Contribution of Livestock Sector in Food Security and Income of Rural Households in Punjab, Pakistan

Background and aim: Livestock production is a very important component of the agricultural economy and perform very supportive role in reducing hunger and food insecurity. Past empirical literature has focused on the effect of livestock sector on different aspects of food safety and food security. This study examines the contribution of livestock sector in the nutritional security and welfare of rural households in Punjab, Pakistan. Materials and methods: Primary data were collected from 350 households using simple random sampling technique. Nutritional security in terms of micro and macro nutrients was calculated based weekly intake of food items. In the second stage, binary logistic regression was employed to analyze the role of livestock in the nutritional security. Results: The results showed that about 35 percent of the sample households were food insecure. It was found that both education level and ownership of livestock significantly improve food security conditions. An increase of one percent in both education and livestock ownership 
increases the chances of a household to become food secure by 0.179 percent and 1.9 percent and respectively. Other important factors found to improve food security were monthly income and total earners in a household. Furthermore, increasing family size and family structure declines household food security. Conclusion: Rural households` food security can be improved by focusing on livestock sector especially the small animals.