Sri Lanka launches a forward-looking national livestock policy to drive private sector growth, enhance food security, and build climate-resilient rural economies.

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved a comprehensive new National Livestock Policy, replacing a two-decade-old framework with a strong emphasis on private sector leadership, market-oriented production, and climate resilience. The move comes amid ongoing challenges in food security, rising import dependence, and the need for sustainable rural development.

This policy signals a strategic shift towards making the livestock industry a key driver of economic growth, nutrition, and export potential in the post-economic crisis recovery phase.

Why Update the Policy Now?

The previous National Livestock Development Policy, dating back around 2006, focused on dairy self-sufficiency, genetic improvement, and basic infrastructure. However, global and local transformations – including economic volatility, climate change impacts, feed price fluctuations, disease outbreaks, and shifting trade dynamics – have rendered it outdated.

Minister Nalinda Jayatissa highlighted that the revision addresses challenges in food security and sectoral development arising from these changes. The new policy was drafted with input from local experts, integrating insights from sub-sector strategies like the national dairy development policy and national poultry development policy.

Sri Lanka’s livestock sector contributes significantly to rural livelihoods, nutrition, and GDP (with poultry alone around 1.1 per cent). Yet, it faces persistent hurdles: low productivity of indigenous breeds, inadequate feed resources, limited veterinary services, climate vulnerabilities, and heavy reliance on imports for dairy and other products.

Key Pillars of the New Policy

The policy’s vision is a “Modernized and sustainable livestock sector for national renaissance,” with a mission to deliver safe, nutritious, affordable animal-sourced foods while contributing to the economy.

Core goals include:

• Increasing domestic production of milk, meat, and eggs through improved productivity and value chains.
• Ensuring food safety and quality via robust “farm-to-fork” systems and certifications.
• Promoting climate-resilient, environmentally friendly practices, including circular economy approaches for waste and by-products.
• Supporting small-scale farmers and rural livelihoods, with emphasis on women and youth empowerment.
• Leveraging science, technology, ICT, and public-private partnerships (PPPs) for innovation and competitiveness.

Strategies span animal health (strengthened surveillance, One Health approaches), feed and nutrition security, systematic breeding (conserving indigenous genetics while improving productivity), value addition, market access, branding, and export orientation. The framework explicitly prioritizes private sector-led development and creating an enabling business environment.

Current State of Sri Lanka’s Livestock Industry

Recent data from the Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH) shows mixed progress. In 2024, despite declines in cattle and buffalo populations, total milk production rose 5.6 per cent, with formal collection up 2.9 per cent. Per capita milk availability reached 40.3 litres. Poultry performed strongly: chicken meat production increased 9.5 per cent, egg production surged 44.5 per cent, and per capita egg availability hit 137.72.

However, challenges persist. Feed costs remain high, infrastructure for processing and cold chains is limited, and disease management (including zoonotics) requires bolstering. Imports of milk products, though down slightly in some years, highlight the gap in self-sufficiency. Poultry has recovery momentum post-2020-2023 crises but faces input dependency.

Climate change exacerbates issues with heat stress, water scarcity, and unpredictable weather, while economic recovery under IMF-supported programmes demands efficiency and reduced import reliance.

Opportunities: Private Sector at the Forefront

A major thrust is private sector involvement. The policy encourages PPPs for investment in feed production, processing, technology adoption (e.g., automated milking, digital tools), and export readiness. Initiatives like the past Market-Oriented Dairy (MOD) project demonstrate potential, having trained thousands and attracted investments while improving productivity.

Experts note opportunities in integrated farming, regenerative practices, digitalization for data management, and compliance with international standards for exports. Poultry and dairy are highlighted for growth, with potential in value-added products and niche markets.

Sustainable practices – such as climate-smart feeds, renewable energy in farms, and waste-to-resource models – align with UN Sustainable Development Goals and could enhance resilience.

Implementation Challenges and the Road Ahead

Success hinges on execution. Key needs include better infrastructure (labs, breeding centres, collection networks), access to finance and insurance for farmers, skilled workforce development, and inter-institutional coordination. Smallholders require targeted support to integrate into formal markets and adopt modern techniques.

Addressing feed security through local cultivation and quality controls, strengthening biosecurity, and promoting research via PPPs will be critical. Fiscal incentives, streamlined regulations, and market intelligence systems are expected to foster competitiveness.

The policy also emphasises gender-inclusive and youth-focused programmes to sustain rural economies and reduce poverty.

Broader Economic and Social Impact

Livestock development ties directly into national priorities: enhancing nutrition (animal-sourced foods combat malnutrition), generating rural employment, boosting foreign exchange through potential exports, and supporting overall agricultural growth. A vibrant sector could reduce the import bill and contribute to GDP recovery.

With Sri Lanka stabilizing post-2022 crisis, this policy positions livestock as a resilient pillar amid global uncertainties like trade disruptions and climate risks.

Stakeholders from government, private industry, farmers’ organizations, and development partners will need to collaborate closely for effective rollout. Monitoring mechanisms, data-driven adjustments, and periodic reviews are implied in the framework.

As Minister Jayatissa and experts emphasise, the private sector’s dynamism, combined with targeted public support, offers the best path to a competitive, sustainable livestock industry that delivers for consumers, producers, and the nation.