LAHORE: As Pakistan look towards increasing its exports, the meat industry has seen considerable interest coming in from major business groups in the last five years due to its ‘untapped potential’, without any proper cost and benefit assessment, said a report published by a local media outlet.
With Chinese investors expressing interest in Pakistan’s meat industry and neighbouring India becoming a global player in the sector, Pakistan’s meat industry is expected to leapfrog in the coming years.
However, no consideration of the externalities involved throughout the supply chain seems to have been taken. Take for example the water footprint, which the WWF defines as the total volume of freshwater used to produce a product, measured over the full supply chain.
According to estimates by the WWF, 15,415 litres of water is consumed while producing 1 kg of beef. Consider this for a moment, compared to beef manufacturing of a shirt requires just 2,495 litres of water. That is how huge beef’s water footprint is.
These estimates, in the absence of local research, are based on global averages and taking into consideration the inefficient water consumption practices in Pakistan, the numbers may, in reality, be even higher.
