Chief Minister Sohail Afridi launched the first-ever Livestock Management Information System (LMIS) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that will pave way to digital governance and better service delivery in the livestock sector in the province.
Addressing the launching ceremony the chief minister said the livestock industry is an important contributor to the rural economy of the province as it contributes nearly 25 per cent of the provincial GDP and provides livelihood to millions of people.
He said that the adoption of data-driven policies is necessary for strengthening the sector which he called one of the most important but historically neglected areas of the provincial economy. According to him modern technology and trustable data are major keys to improve productivity improving animal health as well as facilitating farmers.
Highlighting the province’s livestock resources Afridi said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was home to about 13.51 million cattle, 3.94 million buffaloes, 22.49 million goats and 7.64 million sheep that highlight the sector’s economic importance.
The chief minister said that livestock services have been long running with manual and disconnected systems resulting in inefficiencies in planning, monitoring and record management. He said the purposes of the recently introduced LMIS are to solve these challenges by including real-time reporting, mechanisms of monitoring and open oversight.
“LMIS is not just an IT solution but a whole governance reform project,” he stated, adding the system would support evidence-based policymaking on the back of accurate up to date data.
Under the new structure, farmers, veterinary hospitals, mobile veterinary units, field formations and research institutions will be linked together via a centralised digital network which will tend to enhance coordination and policy planning nationwide in the province.
Zariful Maani the principal architect behind LMIS and other departmental reforms, said digitalization was coming first on his agenda soon after taking office to boost transparency and improve institutional oversight.
He explained that a comprehensive Livestock Census and Geo-Tagged Registry has also been introduced, which has the detailed information on animal species, breeds, gender and age distribution to help the effective planning and resource management.
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