Impacts of climate change on livestock and related food security implications-overview of the situation in Pakistan and policy recommendations

Abstract

Pakistan is an agricultural country and livestock plays a pivotal role, with the demand for protein being met primarily by livestock production. Livestock contributes more than 60% to agriculture and 11.22% to the country's GDP. It is estimated that over 35 million people engage in livestock-related activities. Meat production has increased during the past decades, especially poultry. Climate change is severely affecting animal productivity in resource-poor countries like Pakistan directly by heat stress and indirectly by changes in the ecosystem. Pakistan has the world's largest integrated irrigation system; however, water scarcity has pushed farmers to shift cultivation from water-intensive crops like rice, wheat, cotton, and sugarcane to other crops and vegetables, which require less water, thus making increased pressure on the food market. The country still suffers a deficiency in Crude Protein and Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) for large and small ruminants in their diet. A detailed understanding is warranted to anticipate the future impacts of climate change on the productivity of ruminants. There is a drastic effect on the performance of water buffaloes/cattle and their calves in terms of growth and production, while a higher Temperature Humidity Index (THI) has the most adverse effects on exotic cattle. The performance of small ruminants (a primary source of animal protein) is also adversely affected by a rise in temperature, becoming more severe with increasing atmospheric humidity along with high temperatures. Moreover, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the importance of climate change and the value of food security are expected to increase even more. Mitigation measures are suggested to address productivity losses in the livestock food supply, as the population grows.