Pakistan and UK look at collaboration in dairy sector

Pakistan and UK can collaborate extensively for improving practices in the livestock and dairy sector of Pakistan to yield maximum benefit to milk producers.

Though Pakistan is the third largest producer of milk in the world, the sector remains informal and disorganised resulting in less profit for the farmers, and gap in supply and demand.

Proper training of dairy farmers in management and animal care can increase the yield and at the same time bring economic prosperity and social change in the lives of farmers and their families.

These observations were made by the participants of the first Pakistan-UK Roundtable on Technical Cooperation in the Livestock and Dairy Sector, held at the Cambridge University.

UK's Department for International Development (DFID) also referenced its upcoming PKR50 million (US$600,000) commitment to Punjab Economic Opportunities Programme (PEOP) in Partnership with the Government of Punjab in Pakistan.

PEOP will create jobs and improve income of poor farmers in the Pakistan by helping them market their produce; provide technical knowledge and training to improve the dairy sector; and ensure that women and marginalised communities benefit from the programme.

The participants of the conference included dairy businesses, institutes and processing companies. Universities from UK particularly showed an interest in providing technical expertise to Pakistan on the livestock and dairy sector.

Nafees Zakaria, who represented Pakistan's High Commission in the UK, said that over 100 British companies were engaged in the business investments in Pakistan.