South Asia Investor Review

First seven months of the current fiscal year have seen tractor sales soar 45% to 38,173 units, according to data of the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association. It is driven by a combination of soaring credit availability and bumper harvests of Pakistan's top three crops by area: wheat, cotton and rice. Tractor Sales: First seven months of the current fiscal year have seen tractor sales soar 45% to 38,173 units, according to data of the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association. This is good news for Pakistan's tractor industry that has been in slump for several years as the agriculture output was stagnant. Pakistani farmers use tractors for a variety of usual tasks ranging from tilling and planting to harvest and transport. Tractor owners recover their costs from more efficiently working their farms and renting out equipment when they are not in their own use. Agriculture Credit Growth: Pakistani banks provided Rs 500 billion (nearly $5 billion) worth of...

Pakistan per capita meat consumption has nearly tripled from 11.7 kg in 2000 to 32 kg in 2016. It is projected to rise to 47 kg by 2020. Rising Incomes and Meat Consumption: Pakistan's per capita meat consumption has nearly tripled from 11.7 kg in 2000 to 32 kg in 2016. It is projected to rise to 47 kg by 2020, according to a paper published by the United States National Library of Medicines at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).   Organization for Economic Development (OECD)  explains that meat demand increases with  higher incomes  and a shift - often due to growing urbanization - to food preferences that favor increased proteins from animal sources in diets. Meat Production in Pakistan. Source: FAO The  NIH paper  authors Mohammad Shoaib and Faraz Jamil point out that Pakistan's meat consumption of 32 Kg per person is only a third of the meat capita meat consumption in rich countries like Australia and the United States. A st...

Pakistanis are spending about $3.5 billion on  Eid ul Azha  this year, according to analysts. This includes $2.8 billion worth of  livestock  and another  $700 million on clothes,  shoes, jewelry and various services . This amount represent a huge transfer of wealth from urban to rural population in the country. Animal Sacrifice: Eid al Adha commemorates the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his most beloved son Ismail (Ismael) when asked to do so by God. It follows  Hajj, the annual pilgrimage of Mecca  by Muslims from around the world each year. Muslims believe that God had angels remove Ismael from under the knife of blindfolded Abraham and had him replaced by a lamb. Economic Activity:  The commemoration includes sacrifice of cows, goats, lambs and camels on Eid al Azha. This year, the  media reports  indicate that 4 million goats, 2.7 million cows, 800,000 lambs and 30,000 camels are being slaughte...

US venture investor Tim Draper, Swiss food giant Nestle, and American beverage titan Coca Cola are investing heavily in Pakistan's agribusiness. Silicon Valley private equity investor Tim Draper, a well-known international venture capitalist, is quietly investing in Pakistan's agribusiness, the largest provider of food commodities in the Middle East, according to San Francisco Examiner . The share of livestock in Pakistan's agriculture output nearly doubled from 25.3 percent in 1996 to 49.6 percent in 2006, according to FAO . As part of the continuing livestock revolution, Nestle is investing $334 million to double its dairy output in Pakistan, according to Businessweek . Reuters is reporting that the company has already installed 3,200 industrial-size milk refrigerators at collection points across the country to start the kind of cold storage chain essential for a modern dairy industry, and give farmers a steady market for their milk. In another development on th...