Agriculture and livestock are two important segments of Pakistan’s economy. The agriculture sector constitutes the largest sector of the country’s economy with a contribution of 19.2 per cent to the GDP by providing employment to 38.5 per cent of the country’s labour force whereas livestock plays a significant role in the Pakistani agricultural sector. it accounts for about 56.3% of the agricultural value added. More than 35 million people are engaged in this sector contributing nearly 11% to the GDP.
China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a strategic economic project to enhance trade connectivity between Pakistan and China. It is a multi-billion project of Pakistan that primarily includes energy projects, infrastructure development, industrialisation, and the expansion and improvement of Gwadar port. Recently, it has been seen that both the countries are making efforts to introduce more sectors under this project to enhance the region’s prosperity, and improve business-to-business cooperation.
Improving Agriculture and Livestock under CPEC
Recently, both countries have announced plans to increase the agriculture and livestock trade to bolster food security through CPEC. In this regard, both parties have decided to focus on two important food items, Milk and Chillies. In Pakistan, there are several problems that are hampering the growth of agriculture and livestock like poor seed quality, a lack of modern farming techniques, low yield, and a lack of skilled farm labour. However, for revamping both the thriving segments of Pakistan’s economy, it has been decided to strengthen bilateral cooperation in agriculture and livestock between the two countries by producing higher-quality products that can be exported.
Ultimate Goal of the project
The project has two main goals, one is to improve the genetic variations of cows being used in Pakistan for dairy farming by providing better embryos to farm elite animals with high yields and long lives. To achieve the goal, China has already established a laboratory in Lahore to develop buffalo embryos of elite animals to significantly improve buffalo breeds and milk yield both in Pakistan and China. The second goal is to enhance trade in the agriculture sector. For this purpose, China has started chilli contract-farming in Punjab and Sindh on 400 hectares by providing local farmers with technology and training to grow high-quality chilis.
Way Forward
CPEC is considered a pragmatic project that will surely enhance Pakistan’s economic growth by improving regional connectivity between the two countries. Nonetheless, adding the agriculture and livestock sector under the CPEC will likely enhance trade and economic activities between the two countries and also offer ample opportunities for foreign investors to invest under CPEC. As a result, foreign investment will enhance prosperity in the region and improve business-to-business cooperation that will reduce the burden of loans and bring a boost to the economic wealth of Pakistan, increasing its rank within the world indexes of prosperity and success.
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