**2. Methodology**

To evaluate the current status, identify key constraints, and elaborate suggestions for future policies to promote the development of the Nepalese livestock sector, we reviewed the limited body of available scientific publications related to Nepalese livestock production, animal nutrition, and livestock policies. To search peer-reviewed articles, databases such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, Agricola, Agricultural and Environmental Science Database, Agris, CAB, and Abstracts were used. Different keywords and search terms including "Feed resources" and "Livestock" and "Productivity" and "Sustainability," and "Nepal" were included as search terms. In addition, various reports and databases published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Nepal (https://www.moald.gov. np/publication/Agriculture%20Statistics assessed on 6 December 2021); Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal (https://cbs.gov.np/metadata/; assessed on 6 December 2021); National Population and Housing Census, Nepal (https://censusnepal.cbs.gov.np/Home/Index/ EN; assessed on 6 December 2021); and the statistical database of FAOSTAT (https://www. fao.org/faostat/en/#data; assessed on 6 December 2021) were also used. All graphs were generated using GraphPad Prism software 7.0 (San Diego, CA, USA).

#### *2.1. Data and Calculations Underlying Projections for Milk Production and Demands*

We analyzed the trend of annual milk production compared to demand using data from the Nepalese ministry [15,16]. We calculated the current milk demand (ton/day)

using the FAO recommendations of 320 mL/day of milk or dairy products for adults (>18 years of age) for Nepal [17]. The values for daily milk demand would be even higher if they were corrected for the needs of non-breast-fed infants and children and teenagers below 18 years of age, who have a daily recommendation of 500 mL/person/day [17]. In addition, we made future projections of daily milk demands (ton/day) in Nepal for the period 2020–2030. The calculations for the projection of future demands were performed based on the projected increase in the total population of Nepal during that period, as presented by CBS [18], and the expected minimum demand for milk based on the FAO recommendations for daily milk consumption (320 mL/adult/day) for adults (>18 years of age) from developing countries [17].

#### *2.2. Data and Calculations Underlying Projections for Meat Production and Demand*

Projecting the future trends in annual meat production compared to demand was conducted in a similar way, using data from the Nepalese ministry [15,16]. The total annual meat production was calculated based on the amount of meat from major meat-producing animals, and also included the amount of duck meat which is negligible (217–281 tons/year) compared with other livestock species. The meat demand was calculated based on the FAO data for average meat consumption per capita (27.9 kg/person/year or 76.4 gm/person/day) in the developing countries [4]. We further made pessimistic projections for future meat demands in Nepal based on the FAO data for average annual meat consumption per capita for developing countries. Three separate projections were made based on the average annual meat consumption per capita for developing countries, worldwide population, and developed countries: 27.9 kg (76.4 gm/person/day), 38.7 kg (106 gm/person/day), and 80 kg (219.3 gm/person/day), respectively [4].

#### **3. Nepalese Livestock Production**

Nepal is an agricultural land-locked country situated in South Asia between India and China [19], where the agricultural sector is the prime source of national income, and it contributes about 32% to national gross domestic production (GDP), involving ~65% of the economically active population [20]. Nepal consists of high mountains, the Himalayan range (35% of total area), mid-hilly regions (42% of total area), and the lower plain of the Terai region (23% of total area) [20], each characterized by very distinct agro-climatic conditions. Thus, the Nepalese agricultural sector has regional and very distinct resourceuse patterns from the lower plain areas bordering India (Terai region) to the Himalayan area at around 5000 m altitude near the Tibetan region.

Livestock is an important sub-sector within the Nepalese agricultural sector and accounts for ~25% of the national agricultural GDP [21]. The domestic livestock production in Nepal is based on 17 different species [22], which encompasses buffalo, cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, and poultry as the main farm animals (Figure 1), accounting for a total annual milk and meat production of 1,911,239 and 332,544 tons, respectively [20]. One of the critical features of Nepalese livestock is the subsistence nature of farming, where typically, a single household manages only a small number of animals. Accordingly, the Nepalese agriculture census defines the economic unit of an agricultural holding in terms of livestock production as at least one big head (cow, buffalo, etc.) or at least five small heads (goat, sheep, etc.) or poultry consisting of at least 20 birds (chicken, duck, etc.) managed under a single managemen<sup>t</sup> system [23]. Farmers generally raise their few animals alongside other agricultural components, such as agronomical crops, fruits, or vegetables, and the animals are either kept in a shed or allowed to graze or scavenge freely during some hours of the day. In recent years, the number of commercial dairies (cow, buffalo), pig and poultry farms has been growing in Nepal; however, overcoming low livestock productivity is one of the significant challenges [24], as described in the following.

**Figure 1.** Population trend of major livestock species in Nepal from 2002 to 2019 (MOALD, 2017; MOALD, 2019) [15,16]. (**A**): Population trend of cattle (solid line, *•*: total number of cattle; solid line -: number of milking cows), (**B**): Population trend of buffalo (solid line, -: total number of buffalo; solid line, : number of milking buffalo), (**C**): Population trend of goats, (**D**): Population trend of sheep, (**E**): Population trend of pigs, and (**F**): Population trend of fowl.
