|
Pakistan's Poultry Industry Badly Hit
In March 1997, the Government of Pakistan issued an ordinance called the Marriages (Prohibition of Wasteful Expenses) Ordinance, 1997, prohibiting for two years all "wasteful expenses on marriages and other related ceremonies". It said "no person solemnising his or the marriage of any other person shall serve or allow to serve meals or other edibles except hot and cold soft drinks to the persons partaking in marriage in a club, hotel, restaurant, marriage hall, community centre or any other public place. However, this shall not apply to eating of meals within premises of the house by family members or the guests".
It also banned illumination of houses, explosion of crackers display of fire-works. Violation shall be punishable with minimum fine of Rs.100,000 and maximum of Rs 300,000, it was stipulated.
Over a year after the Ordinance was enforced, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), conducted a comprehensive survey of effects of the Ordinance on economic activity and social life in Pakistan and on the relevant industries. Poultry Times of India has received by the courtesy of Dr.Khalid Mahmood Shouq of VETERINARY NEWS & VIEWS, Faisalabad, Pakistan, the LCCI report.
Social Background and Impact of the Ordinance
Food is an integral part in the socio-cultural life of a nation. It has always played a crucial role in the economy. With the development of industrialized urban society production, marketing, processing, packing and catering of food items has passed through various evolutionary stages comprising of many processes involving a large employment base. Food comprises primarily agricultural products which pass through several processes to reach ultimately the table of consumers.
There is a special religious and socio-cultural aspect of food industry in Pakistan that has evolved in the form of hospitality offered to guests at occasions of marriage and walima ceremonies which had assumed commercial dimensions in urbanised society. This had resulted in the setting up of marriage halls, community centers and special catering services of hotels and restaurants and a host of other allied business enterprises. In the overall rather simple atmosphere of an Islamic society offering relatively few social occasions of a happy get together, marriage functions had assumed the role of important socio-cultural events with the essential commitment of serving food to guests not only as a traditional hallmark of eastern hospitality but also as an essential ingredient of religious fervor.
The complete food ban has dampened economic activity related with food industry, not only with the urban marriage food industry employing hundreds of thousands of workers but also destroyed the market of livestock and poultry farmers producing primary unprocessed agricultural products like meat, milk and eggs, says the LCCI.
Livestock producers, producing 70% of milk and meat are essentially small farmers or landless peasants while poultry producers include both small farmers and large commercial enterprises including, breeders, hatchery operators, feed millers, layer and broiler farmers etc..
Poultry farming sector alone produces annually Rs.30 billion worth of products out of which more than Rs.10 billion market existed because of marriage food requirements which has collapsed entirely due to marriage food ban. This has resulted in serious damage to poultry farming sector with the closure of 30 to 40 per cent of farms and breeding stations.
As Pakistan experiences a highly skewed income distribution, attempts to reduce that gap have always been made, there is a natural and societal trend where all people try to keep up with the traditions of their clan. E ven the low income bracket try to keep up with the traditions, almost as much as the rich do in their wedding ceremonies. They do so even at the expense of exhausting all their savings, and further loan taking. The middle income class is the most effected class because it has to maintain an image and a standing in the society that they live in.
When reducing the "Wasteful Expenses" in such transactions, the Government should have attempted to persuade the average household person to invest his savings in a more productive economic activity, by giving lucrative incentives to small entrepreneurs. In the absence of such attractions, the general tendency is to withhold savings made in unproductive ways i.e. putting them in lockers, converting them into dollars etc., thus dampening the economy further.
One of the largely affected industries because of this Ordinance is the poultry sector. A year after the Ordinance, conditions show a collapse in the supply. Production fell by 45%, because of low demand. With a sudden fall of production, and the shut down of many small-scaled breeders, the services of many of the industry's workers was no longer required, and hence unemployment rose.
Initially the effect was of a price fall, so as to materialise the sale of the already hatched supply of chicks, to cover up the average variable costs and survive the demand shock. However after the initial breakdown was absorbed, the price per chick rose from Rs. 12 to Rs. 20, which means that the farmer's cost has risen to an approximate of Rs. 45 per chicken.
The LCCI survey concluded that Caterers and Related Food Item Suppliers were the most adversely affected sector. This was an activity that used to earn, annually, a staggering Rs. 150 million, which has now dropped to a mere Rs. 30 million in just one year's time. Conclusively, all complementary industries too have been adversely affected.
Address: Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry
11-Shahra-e-Aiwan-e-Tijarat Lahore, Pakistan.
Ph: 6365737. Fax: 6368854.
Email: director@chmbr3.lcci.org.pk
Courtesy Business Recorder
|
Pakissan.com;
|
