Why India’s food security debate must give greater attention to livestock

India has succeeded in solving its problem of calories, but it is still a pending task as far as protein is concerned.
| Photo Credit:
SRINATH M

The discussion on food security in India has revolved around having enough food. While the Green Revolution played an important role in achieving caloric sufficiency, food security cannot be restricted just to having enough food. It has to encompass adequate nutrition, availability of affordable proteins and resilient livelihoods as well. Therefore, livestock becomes very important in this discussion. The livestock industry has been growing by around 7-7.4 per cent per year since 2014-15 and contributes to more than 30 per cent of agricultural GVA. However, NFSA and PDS are still largely cereal-centric in nature.

The deficiency here is protein. India has succeeded in solving its problem of calories, but it is still a pending task as far as protein is concerned. Dairy products, eggs, and meat are some of the most easily available sources of protein, and thus, animals play an important role in ensuring good nutrition. India’s case is a good example of how things can be done when proper action is taken. The per capita consumption of milk had decreased to 107 grams a day in 1970. Thanks to Operation Flood, which was backed by the development of cooperative structures and campaigns like “Amul Doodh Peeta Hai India”, per capita consumption reached 459 grams a day in 2022-23.

Economic resource

This success can go further than milk and eggs. The success of the White Revolution was that cooperatives could link up the producer to the organised market and at the same time improve nutrition. This strategy could be used for improving poultry, small ruminants and fisheries too. Livestock is not just about food; livestock is also an economic resource. For marginal and landless families, livestock is a means to earn money even without owning land. Livestock would empower rural women with productive resources.

But the households that rely the most on livestock have the fewest protections in times of shocks. Access to insurance and credit continues to be low even with initiatives like the National Livestock Mission and Livestock Insurance Scheme. An epidemic can lead to the loss of the main asset of the small farmer. Shocks in climate aggravate the situation. The floods of 2025 in Punjab apparently led to the deaths of 1,000 heads of large livestock and 35,000 poultry along with the destruction of the fodder supply. Livestock loss is much less recorded and compensated than crop loss.

Exposed to market instability

Policy fragmentation is a bigger problem. Livestock continues to be fragmented under the animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, and disaster management schemes, which makes comprehensive focus on this issue difficult. Market instability creates greater risks. While producers of grains have Minimum Support Price, producers of milk and livestock continue to be exposed to the instability of markets and prices. A comprehensive food security policy must take into account the livestock sector: access to credit and insurance, fodder availability, improved cooperative structures, market infrastructure, and adequate disaster relief payments.

India doesn’t have to make a choice between food security from grain and from livestock. India needs to expand the notion of food security. With shrinking arable land per person, poultry and small ruminants can provide an efficient way to access protein, and livestock can improve resilience. India has demonstrated the value of institutional intervention in terms of dairy development and eggs, but it now needs to use the experience gained. Livestock cannot continue to be a side note in allied sectors. For India’s food security policy to address nutrition and livelihoods and resilience, it must place livestock at the core.

The author is Founder & CEO, Gocarin

Published on September 6, 2026