Livestock and Rural Household Food Security: The Case of Small Farmers of the Punjab, Pakistan
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This paper examines the role of livestock for household food security of small farmers in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Household level data were collected from 576 small farmers of 12 districts of the province using stratified sampling technique. According to the results, about 19% of the sample households were measured to be food insecure. It was found that both large (cows and buffalos) and small (goats and sheep) livestock assets significantly improve food security. An increase of one animal in both assets increases the chances of a household to become food secure by 10.1 and 148.6%, respectively. Other important factors found to improve food security were monthly income, total earners in a household and education level of graduation and above. Furthermore, increasing family size deteriorates household food security. Rural household food security can be improved by focussing on livestock sector especially the small animals.