Change of the Livestock Farming in Hussaini Village, Gojal District, Northern Pakistan

Abstract

The Gojal district is located in the far northern part of Pakistan bordering China to the north and Afghanistan to the northwest. The Gojal district maintained a self-sufficient lifestyle until the late 1980s by relying on traditional farming and agricultural techniques that include irrigated agriculture of wheat and beans and livestock farming by transhumant grazing such as sheep and goats. However, the Karakoram Highway (KKH) was opened in 1987 along the Hunza River, running through many villages in central Gojal district. The opening of the KKH contributed to advancing modernization in the northern region of Pakistan, particularly for developing the goods/money market economy. The villagers responded to the emergence of a society that required monetary income by introducing potato to produce a cash crop as a source of income and the expansion of such agriculture. The livestock farming is changing in the Hussaini village. Recent trends indicate a dramatic reduction in the number of grazing livestock by several factors at the base of the penetration of market economy. This report, focusing on the case of the Hussaini village, clarifies the factors that led to the decline of the stagnant village livestock farming.