Livestock Contribution to Food and Nutrition Security in Nepal

Abstract

Livestock products are a vital source for achieving food and nutrition security for growing human population in Nepal. Presently, the livestock production system in the country is mostly traditional and subsistence-oriented with low productivity, though it is in transition towards semi-commercial system in some districts. The objectives of this chapter are to assess the status of production, analyse projected domestic production and availability of livestock products for 2029/2030, and identify key production constraints and issues in making Nepal self-reliant in livestock production with reduced import. The major information for the chapter comes from the national literatures on livestock statistics, agricultural census, and published and unpublished research papers and policy documents. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model was used to predict livestock population and production of primary livestock products for 2029/2030 using data from 1961 to 2019. Analysis showed that the projected growths of livestock population and products are likely to increase in the next 10 years, but the productions are unlikely to meet the nutritional needs of people. Major constraints, gaps, and opportunities for livestock development for ensuring food and nutrition security are assessed, which include low productivity, higher production cost, marketing hurdles, climate change impacts, and institutional and policy issues. To address these issues, livestock development including breed improvements and their promotions, strengthening market infrastructure and support services, technology development and dissemination, and building capacity of institutions and stakeholders including enabling policy environments could be instrumental.