The paradigm of supply chain resiliency has become a key term in the operation-related and sustainability literature in the current context. Resilience refers to the adaptive capacity of an entity to respond and recover disruptions and continue its operation and control (Afshar and Hussain Shah, 2025). With reference to the agri-livestock systems, resilience is more than logistic agility but includes environmental, economic, and social flexibility. The ecological resilience concept about the ability of the system to absorb a shock without a relapse into a stable alternative state has been utilized to design adaptive supply chains capable of responding to shocks such as climate change, pandemics, and geopolitical instabilities (Do et al., 2022; Singh and Singh, 2019).

Livestock systems are both the contributors and victims of climate change. Major studies indicate that the industry contributes to the global greenhouse gases (GHGs) due to enteric fermentation, the management of manure, and land-use change (Kikstra et al., 2022). In Pakistan, where the majority of livestock is primarily raised in mixed crop–livestock or pastoral production systems, the negative impact of the climate change is associated with reduced access to feed, increased disease levels, water shortages, and diminishing output of livestock at the family level (Abid et al., 2017; Usman et al., 2023). Irrespective of these weaknesses, the concept of climate-resilient livestock development has seldom been exploited in the national policy process and local adaptation planning.

Changes in climatic conditions present a real challenge to sustainability in livestock production, and one practical solution to this problem is CSA. CSA involves three pinnacles, which are (i) increasing productivity, (ii) creating resilience and adaptation, and (iii) cutting down emission. These aims are set in practice in the livestock environment through combined measures of better forage, climate-resistant breeds, rotational grazing, cold chains supported by solar energy, and animal health being tracked with the assistance of technology (Melgar et al., 2025; Vatsa et al., 2023). The effective implementation, however, is conditional to enabling institutions, coordination of stakeholders, and building capacity at the farm level, all of which do not exist at the required levels in Pakistan in terms of policy and allocation of resources.

The Pakistani livestock supply chain can be characterized by the informal chain of intermediaries in a long supply chain, low access to formal markets, underdeveloped cold stores and transport, and low co-ordination between up- and downstream players (Imran et al., 2018; Khan et al., 2024). Such losses translate to low post-harvest outcomes, subjugated farmgate prices, and the inability to compete in the foreign markets. In addition, smallholder farmers, the owners of more than 80 percent of livestock, rarely have institutional connections or financial tools to exploit climate-smart technology or climate-proof the supply chain (Zaurez and Shah, 2025). The lack of the integrated approach to the value chain compromises the performance of the economy and the stability of the whole system.

In Pakistan, the management of livestock supply chains is decentralized into federal, provincial, and district levels and tends to create with uncoordinated policy formulation and inconsistent policy enforcement. The absence of any national policy on the livestock supply chain also discourages systemic change. According to international best practices, effective multi-stakeholder space, that is, producer cooperatives, value chain alliance, and public–private partnerships (PPPs), can contribute to greater resilience (Usman et al., 2023). However, they have a very small penetration in Pakistan because of institutional inertia, regulatory restrictions, and ineffective culture of collaboration (Khan et al., 2024).

Although, internationally, the literature has expanded in more detail regarding the link between CSA and supply chain resilience, there has been little empirical research of any sort in this regard in Pakistan, particularly through a systems thinking perspective (Ahmad et al., 2024; Nadeem et al., 2024). The available pieces of the literature are either sectorally segmented (divided among feed, health, or marketing in isolation) or do not reflect a holistic approach to resilience. In addition, there are a minimal number of studies that provide applicable policy pathways of incorporating climate-smart livestock practices (Kamal et al., 2022; Sardar et al., 2021).

The literature reviewed indicates the fact that the multidimensional perspective on improving the resilience of livestock supply chains should be applied to Pakistan. It is crucial to incorporate climate-smart agriculture into a connected supply chain structure where it is backed by facilitating mechanisms of governance and institutions to guarantee the food security, rural livelihood, and ecological sustainability (Imran et al., 2018; Usman, 2024). The following section continues these insights with the conceptual framework behind this study.

The conceptual framework followed in the study is based on three interdependent areas, namely, supply chain resilience theory, CSA, and systems thinking in agri-value chains. All these threads lead together in terms of the systemic exposure of the livestock supply chain of Pakistan to the growing risks of climatic change.

The model presumes that making the livestock supply chain resilience is an integrative practice, which involves four fundamental levels of adaptive strategies:

1. Farm-level production

Every level is considered the lever and the constraint, depending on the volume of resource distribution, policy attention, and coordination between the stakeholders. The model is integrated to the concept of climate-smart agriculture and focuses on feedback loop, interdependence, and enabling conditions to ensure long-term resilience and food security.

All the elements promote resilience on a system-wide level, with CSA as the central composite and policy/institutional coherence as the primary facilitator.

The operationalization of this conceptual model comprises an identification of a multidimensional perspective that acknowledges the following:

• Temporal resilience (empowering recently to recover quickly or in the medium term to adapt to an event)

The role of policy and investment agreement is also emphasized, particularly in a devolved governance system in Pakistan, such as that enacted after the 18th Amendment, where provinces have the key responsibility of implementing agricultural systems.

The research study consists of a qualitative exploratory research design based on a case study approach in examining the adaptive mechanism of a livestock supply chain in Pakistan through the prism of CSA. The qualitative design is able to support an in-depth investigation of institutional processes, actor patterns, infrastructure deficits, and policy structures through the complex, systemic, and context-specific postulation of resilience in agri-livestock systems (Creswell and Creswell, 2018; Palaganas et al., 2017).

The study is carried out in a constructivist paradigm which unconsciously considered various realities existing within the ecological terrains, contexts of governance, and market structures of Pakistan. This paradigm facilitates a versatile approach applicable to policy-based, solution-approach research in the developing economies.

Purposeful selection based on both geographical and ecological variability resulted in the occurrence of three globally dispersed cases of livestock supply chains as representatives of distinct vulnerability and adaptive capacity:

1. Punjab (Central Pakistan): this region has been characterized by high density of livestock, inadequate cold chain facility, and some level of adoption of CSA.

The major stakeholders were identified by using purposive sampling in each region (including):

• Smallholder livestock farmers

Within the framework of the study, 32 semi-structured interviews and 6 focus group discussions (FGDs) among the respondents were conducted in January–April 2025.

The study utilized several data collection techniques so that it might be triangulated effectively:

• Semi-structured interviews: to elicit first-hand experiences, coping patterns, and institutional problems.

The interviews were conducted in Urdu or local languages and subsequently translated to English. Research ethical guidelines were strictly adhered to while conducting interviews.

Thematic content analysis was used to analyze data on the six-phase model strategic framework, which entails familiarity with data, initial coding, identification of themes, theme reviewing, definition and naming of themes, and final report (Braun and Clarke, 2022). The themes identified were charted into the conceptual framework, especially on climate-smart adaptation practice, institutional enablers and constraints, resilience mechanisms, and market and logistics innovations. A matrix coding query was also performed to find out the co-occurrences and relationships among the regions, adaptation practices, and governance arrangements.

A number of qualitative validation methods were applied to guarantee the credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability of the findings. Member checking was completed by sending interview summaries to the respondents to verify validity, and peer debriefing was made in meetings with CSA professionals and scholars in the field of supply chains. The cross-verification of data with the help of interviews, documents, and field observations was used to make the triangulation. In addition, to ensure better transparency and traceability during the research process, all field notes, coding activities, and analytical memos were well documented.

The qualitative nature of the study and its geographical reach are limited and can hinder the extent to which the study findings could be generalized to the entire Pakistani regions. Nevertheless, the level of analysis provides transplantable knowledge that can be used to develop policies, transform institutions, and make resilience plans in comparable agro-ecological settings.

Practices of CSA by farmers in the livestock sector are in their infancy. Although awareness of drought, heat stress, and fodder crop scarcity as risk factors are increasing, there is a gap in a systematic adaptive practice. Certain progressive farmers in Punjab have started to cut and preserve silage and fodder but provide cost and knowledge as hindrances to their greater widespread adoption. In KP, only indigenous breed use is considered an informal method of resilience even though systematic breeding schemes are nonexistent. In all territories, no single-inclusive CSA models that integrate climate-resistant fodder, economics, and water efficiency management measures are present.

The lack of a reliable infrastructure of cold chains was cited as one of the most common problems in all the stakeholder groups. The losses in terms of meat spoilage due to the lack of cold storage facilities and in the absence of refrigerated transport are persistent to both Punjab and Sindh. Exporters pointed out that poor infrastructure not only impedes the retention of domestic value but also compromises the conformity of international halal and hygiene standards. Modern abattoirs and solar-powered chilling machines were also called out as possible solutions although utilization of this sort is not readily observed and is donor-dependent. There is still a lack in public investment in climate-resilient infrastructure.

One of the themes common to all interviews was that the governing structure of livestock was fragmented. The stakeholders outlined duplication between the provincial and federal levels, indistinct mandates, and lack of consistency in the policies of implementation. When CSA strategies exist, they are frequently implemented independently of overall supply chain planning. There was also low coordination between departments, as reported by extension officers, and the unpredictable nature of the policy framework when making an investment, as expressed by the private sector stakeholders. This form of fragmentation in governance is a barrier to coordination both in the vertical dimension (among government levels) and also the horizontal dimension (among supply chain players).

The use of digital technologies to develop resilience is gaining its popularity, but it is still implemented on a mixed basis. Animal health alert systems via SMS were successful in some NGOs of KP. Nevertheless, the rural Sindh and southern Punjab farmers stated the low awareness and access to such tools. Traceability mechanism, remote sensing to identify climate alerts, and mobile veterinary services were either at pilot phases or nonexistent. The most common obstacles to scale were digital illiteracy, connectivity, and training.

Farmers, in all regions, were found to have high exposures to the volatility of price and to dependence on informal middlemen. The lack of well-organized markets, grading, and farmer cooperatives reduces bargaining power and keeps the incomes of producers down. Even in the comparatively commercialized regions of Punjab, the farmers were concerned with the absence of the transparency in pricing-setting and differentiation by quality. Exporters observed that in the absence of traceability of supply chains and quality certificates, Pakistan would have problem in accessing high-value international markets.

Capital to make climate-resilient investments is grossly constrained. A majority of farmers complained that they were unable to access credit because of collaterals and deficiency in documentary records. No respondent has indicated access to livestock insurance, weather-based insurance, and other methods of risk transfer. Donor agencies affirmed that the current existing models of micro-finance are ill suited to livestock life cycles and seldom included the phenomenon of climate risks. Such financial exclusion has a direct negative effect on adaptive capacity.

The conduct of focus group discussions helped establish the critical position of women in livestock management, especially in the management of small ruminants (management of small ruminants, feeding, and milking), and highlighted their exclusion from extension services and training programs. In both Sindh and KP, women said that they had no access to veterinary services, to decision-making forums, and to markets. Even though they contribute labor and have knowledge regarding livestock activities, they have no formal representation in resilience planning, hence compromising the adaptive capacity of livestock systems at household levels.

The livestock extension service in the three provinces was reported to be under-resourced and reactive. Officers reported minimal mobility, outstanding demands of services, and insufficient logistical support. On climate-smart interventions, farmers complained of few visits, low levels of responsiveness, and minimal technical advice. These gaps were occasionally covered up by donor-backed programs, which, however, were not embedded in permanent processes of delivering public services. Institutionalization of CSA knowledge within the extension network is also a key limitation.

The private sector players were also willing to co-invest in cold chains, animal welfare technologies, and export standard facilities with policy predictability and fiscal support. Nevertheless, there are no PPP frames or de-risking tools in the public institutions that could encourage such investment. Several stakeholders referred to the existence or rather a lack of trust between the government and the private players, which, coupled by the lack of unity in the enforcement of the contracts and the uncertainty in regulation, among other things, defined a lack of trust between the two sides. This restricts the industry to coordinate individually in response to climatic disruptions.

The results indicate that livestock supply chain resilience in Pakistan is limited by both structural bottleneck (infrastructure, finance, and policy) and functional bottleneck (coordination, capacity, and trust). There are isolated shows of innovation; however, the latter has not been systematically implemented and scaled. The long-standing continuation of the fragmented nature of governance and marginalization of key players (particularly women and smallholders), on the one hand, and under-investment in CSA-aligned infrastructure, on the other hand, indicates a strong necessity to introduce a coherent, inclusive, and system-based approach to resilience-building in the sector.

Resilience in agri-livestock systems is typically being restrained by the very fact that it merely represents the capacity of the farmers to deal with shocks by making farm-level adaptations of an incremental nature. This study does not, however, entirely concur with the arguments made by Walker and Christopher that resilience should be viewed as a property of the system, which is defined by “feedback loops, cross-scale linkages, and adaptive governance” (Christopher et al., 2004; Walker et al., 2004). The lack of adaptation of CSA practices in Pakistan is not only a gap in awareness but also a much deeper problem of a systemic nature related to lacking access to finance, poor extension services, poor infrastructure, and institutional continuity. As such, resilience should be redefined as a multilevel concept, which requires distributable capability at state, market, and civil society levels. Another problem that makes this more complicated is the governance fragmentation problem and institutional inertia. Devolution of agricultural power and having a separate authority under the 18th Amendment, although intended to increase provincial responsiveness, has contributed to a proliferation of parallel administrative systems, inability to coordinate across vertical lines, and duplication of policies, as noted among the disadvantages of decentralized governance (Shahbaz et al., 2022; Usman et al., 2023). Without a unified national system of working toward common standards, investment processes, and accountability processes among provinces, CSA initiatives remain incoherent and non-sustainable. In line with this, institutional resilience needs to be considered a key policy target to meet the objective of adapting over time in a sustainable manner.

The physical infrastructure, especially the cold chains and off-grid energy solutions, is very poor, which is a crucial constraint on supply chain resilience. The supply chain of livestock in Pakistan has been faced with excessive post-harvest losses, poor value addition, and perishability risks, which are attributed to poor chilling, processing, and storage issues. Such a disparity is bigger than a logistics problem; it is a failure to adapt changing climates. Direct investment on climate-resilient infrastructure (solar-powered chillers and mobile processing units) can alter the vulnerability picture of the entire supply chains, as demonstrated in other similar situations such as Kenya and Vietnam (Naveen et al., 2024; Usman, 2024). The climate finance strategy of Pakistan thus needs to enlarge beyond its scope of mitigation to include adaptive livestock system infrastructure.

Information and communication tools have potential progressive effects on real-time risk management, veterinary care, market connections, and traceability (Dovbischuk, 2022). However, in this paper, it is indicated that there exists a disconnection between pilot innovation and the scale of systems. Even though cases of SMS-based alerting and mobile veterinary exist, technical challenges such as digital literacy, poor infrastructure, and poor institutionalization hinder their adoptability. This resonates with that of the failure of innovation diffusion, as explained in the innovation diffusion theory by Rogers. Digital resilience has to insinuate itself where people are, so Pakistan has to transition well beyond fragmented, donor-dominated pilots to a national digital livestock strategy founded on collaboration with both the private and the public sectors, a universal access ethic, and service anchoring.

The study of resilience has been acknowledging the importance of gender inclusion as the fundamental unit of adaptive capacity (Walker et al., 2004). Nevertheless, the livestock systems in Pakistan are structurally invisible to the role of women in livestock, animal care, and informal marketing. Their non-representation in the training, credit, and policy formulation makes the resilience, at the house level, weak and restricts legacy of adaptive approaches to the new generations. It is not only equitable but also important to have a gender-responsive lens implemented in CSA practice, including gender-specific extension services, extension credit to women livestock keepers, and woman inclusion in farmer organizations.

Livestock systems have little climate risk-focused insurance, and financial instruments are not adapted to the reality of the sector. This seriously compromises the capacity of the smallholders to make adaptive technology investments or shock recovery (Khan et al., 2024). A failure to transfer risk appears to be structural as there is no livestock insurance, concessional lending, and weather-indexed finance instruments. Countries such as Ethiopia and India have managed to test the advantage of community-based livestock insurance systems and input–credit–insurance packages. Pakistan has to contextualize such models to its socioeconomic setup to unleash CSA adoption in scale.

Collectively, the findings highlight the importance of transitioning a system-based resilience framework to siloes livestock interventions. This entails the following:

• Inter-ministerial policy integration regarding CSA, food security, livestock, and climatic policy.

The approach is compatible with the international frameworks annotated as the FAO Climate-Smart Livestock Agenda and the African Union Livestock Development Strategy, through which the concept of integrated governance, inclusive innovation, and system thinking are prioritized as resilience pillars.

The strength of the livestock supply chain in Pakistan cannot be promoted by having single interventions. It has to undergo a structural re-balancing, in terms of policy, institutional, financial, and technological aspects, rooted in the principles of climate smartness and based on local conditions. In the study, we provide a practical model, an empirical basis to guide national resilience policies, donor coordination, and future research in understanding cognitions of system transitions in the climate-vulnerable economies of the agri-food sector.

In this paper, we have assessed the structural, institutional, and operational aspects of resilience in the Pakistan livestock supply chain in the context of CSA. The study revealed, with multi-site qualitative inquiry, many intertwined issues that cut across a wide spectrum of interdependent issues: cold chain inadequacy, the fragmented nature of governance, the digital divide to market volatility, and the marginalization of gender. Although a few individual stakeholders have adopted the adaptive practice at the local level, the overall supply chain is still at a high risk of climate-related disruption, policy inconsistency, and infrastructural stagnation.

An important contribution of the work is to give systematic structure to resilience as not only a farm-level property but also a product of coherent policy, inclusive institutions, responsive markets, and adaptive infrastructure. These results support the idea that the current fragmented and reactive interventions should be changed with the coordinated national strategy, consistent with CSA principles, equality, and system integration.

Finally, the issue of building resilience in the livestock sector of Pakistan is, and has to be, both a technical and a governance issue and a developmental need specifically because of the importance of the sector in the food security, rural livelihoods, and economic stability.

Based on the study’s empirical findings and conceptual framework, the following policy recommendations are proposed:

Uncertainty about the climate provides the Pakistan livestock sector with a point of juncture. Resilience will not emerge from just one good practice here and there; it will come from considered thought, deliberate action, and inclusive and coordinated efforts across the entire supply chain virtual. In this paper, we present a plan to transition from vulnerability to resilience by harmonizing infrastructure, innovation, institutions, and inclusion into a harmonious climate-smart vision.