Print — price-guarantee-scheme-livestock — BhutanWiki

The Price Guarantee Scheme for Livestock is a procurement and market-stabilisation programme operated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MoAL) through the state-owned Bhutan Livestock Development Corporation Limited (BLDCL). It was launched in November 2024 under the broader Economic Stimulus Programme of the Royal Government of Bhutan, and is intended to give pork, poultry and trout producers a guaranteed offtake at sustaining prices, with onward distribution through state-aligned retail channels.

The scheme operates on a five-year target framework covering aggregation volumes for each sector, with BLDCL acting as principal aggregator and distributor. It has been expanded twice — most prominently in May 2026, in response to a financial crisis among pig farmers in southern Bhutan triggered by collapsing farmgate prices and an outbreak of African swine fever.

By February 2025, three months after launch, BLDCL had aggregated chicken, pork and trout produce worth approximately Nu 69.7 million (around USD 0.82 million at prevailing exchange rates) under the scheme.^[1][2]

Origins and 2024 launch

The scheme was introduced as a livestock component of the Economic Stimulus Programme, the Royal Government of Bhutan's post-pandemic recovery instrument. Its stated objectives were to reduce Bhutan's reliance on imported meat, to give domestic producers a predictable buyer at sustaining prices, and to compress supply-chain margins between farm and consumer through direct state-aligned retail distribution.^[1][2]

The original target framework set five-year aggregation envelopes of 2,704.8 metric tonnes for pork (424.8 metric tonnes through BLDCL and 2,280 metric tonnes through farmer aggregators), 2,160 metric tonnes for chicken, and 210 metric tonnes for trout. BLDCL was designated as the principal procurement and distribution body, supported by farmer cooperatives and aggregators in the major producing dzongkhags.^[1][2]

Provisions and operation

The scheme channels three connected forms of support through BLDCL:

Direct procurement. BLDCL purchases live or slaughtered animals and other livestock produce from contracted farmers at announced sustaining rates, providing a guaranteed offtake when retail prices fall.
State-aligned retail distribution. Procured produce is supplied through BLDCL outlets and direct contracts with shops, businesses and institutional buyers, with the explicit goal of compressing supply-chain margins between farm and consumer.
Aggregator formalisation. MoAL has formalised livestock aggregators in the major producing dzongkhags — notably Dagana and Tsirang — to provide a standing route to market in high-production gewogs.

Bhutan's commercial piggery sector, the largest sectoral beneficiary so far, is concentrated in the southern and south-eastern dzongkhags of Tsirang, Samtse, Sarpang, Dagana, Chukha and Samdrup Jongkhar, with smaller operations in other dzongkhags. According to MoAL figures cited in the National Assembly, Bhutan produced more than 2,400 metric tonnes of pork in 2025.^[3]

2026 expansion: African swine fever response

By mid-May 2026 pig farmers across Bhutan's southern dzongkhags were carrying significant unsold stocks after farmgate prices fell sharply through 2025 and into 2026. Retail pork prices in Thimphu dropped from Nu 650 to around Nu 400 per kilogram (roughly USD 7.65 down to USD 4.70), while wholesale and farmgate rates fell further, leaving operating margins inadequate against feed and labour costs.^[3] A confirmed outbreak of African swine fever on 11 May 2026 deepened uncertainty and triggered temporary movement restrictions in affected districts.^[4]

In Semjong gewog of Tsirang alone, an estimated 192 metric tonnes of pork remained unsold; at least one operator with a holding of more than 500 pigs was reported to MoAL with feed-loan exposure of around Nu 8.2 million (approximately USD 96,500).^[3]

On 21 May 2026, during the Fifth Session of the Fourth Parliament, Lhakpa Tshering Tamang, Member of Parliament for the Sergithang–Tsirangtoed constituency in Tsirang, raised the crisis during question hour, citing the unsold stockpile in Semjong gewog, the indebted operator with 500 pigs, and the wider exposure of farmers who had borrowed to expand piggery operations on the strength of earlier government encouragement.^[3][5]

Responding for the government, the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Lyonpo Younten Phuntsho, acknowledged the severity of the situation and outlined the package of measures the ministry would deploy through BLDCL. The minister told the House that the government intended to support around 800 metric tonnes of livestock products with a budget envelope of approximately Nu 33 million (around USD 0.39 million), and that BLDCL would directly market produce through retail outlets and contracted businesses to ease the immediate cash-flow stress on farmers.^[2][5]

MoAL convened a national-level coordinating committee bringing together relevant line agencies, financial institutions, and the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (CCAA), with a remit to assess pricing, hoarding and distribution distortions in the meat market and to coordinate emergency offtake. Bhutan Broadcasting Service reported that within the first week after the committee's formation BLDCL had helped move more than 85 metric tonnes of pork worth more than Nu 33 million.^[3]

The 2026 debate also drew in concerns about the broader Livestock Bill and the Cooperatives and Farmer Groups Bill, which were before the same session and which several members argued should be amended to give producers more durable market access rather than relying on ad hoc bailouts.^[6]

Reception and criticism

Opposition members and several producer groups have argued that procurement-and-distribute mechanisms of this kind address symptoms rather than the underlying problems of feed-cost volatility, biosecurity, and weak organised marketing for southern producers. Members of the National Council debating the related Cooperatives and Farmer Groups Bill of Bhutan 2025 questioned whether legal recognition of farmer groups alone would substantively change market access, pointing to the 2026 piggery crisis as evidence that recognition without guaranteed offtake is insufficient.^[6]

Producer testimony covered by Bhutan Broadcasting Service and The Bhutanese drew attention to the gap between announced support volumes and on-the-ground inventory: the announced 800-tonne envelope for the 2026 expansion is smaller than the stockpile reported in southern dzongkhags during the May 2026 debate, and the Nu 33 million budget represents a fraction of the feed-loan exposure across the sector.^[2][3]

Price Guarantee Scheme for Livestock

Origins and 2024 launch

Provisions and operation

2026 expansion: African swine fever response

Reception and criticism

See also

References