(ERGO) – Shamso Abdinoor Hussein, a pastoralist in souterh Somalia’s Bay region, is delighted with the number of goats she sold in Baidoa livestock market during the weeks of August.
Three months ago, she used to walk the 32 km from her village Buulo-garas with her goats, only to trudge back again with all the animals after not making any sales in the market.
Since the end of June, however, the fortunes of livestock herders and traders in Baidoa have risen dramatically after the forging of new business deals with export companies based in Berbera, Somaliland. They have been exporting thousands of animals to Saudi Arabia ahead of the Muslim pilgrimage, the Hajj, from 9-14 September.
Shamso has been selling up to 20 goats a week. This has improved her standard of living, she said.
For the bigger Baidoa businessmen, the new ties with Berbera exporters represents a welcome development, especially as most people in the regions of Bay and Bakool depend on livestock.
Hassan Ishak Shuriye, a local businessman, said he had sold 20,000 goats in the last two months.
“The market for goats is good during these three months, especially the demand for our white goats found in Bakool is high,” he said.
Due to the conflict between government forces and Al-Shabab, several districts in Bay and Bakool remain isolated and without transport.
Shuriye and other businessmen combine the livestock they buy from local pastoralists like Shamso and walk with the animals to Beletweyne, Hiran region. There they load the animals onto trucks and transport them up to Berbera.
“Both traders and pastoralists have greatly benefitted from this new market,” he said.
Prices have gone up with the demand. A six-year-old goat is up from $60 to $80.
Aden Sharif Aden, who brings livestock from Dinsor and Kansahdhere in Bay, told Radio Ergo he was extremely happy about the situation. He sold 1,200 goats this month.
“When I saw this opportunity I started to source livestock from different places. I have never seen such an opportunity,” he said.
In 2015, 4.9 million goats and sheep were exported from Somalia to Gulf countries, according to a report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). FAO says livestock contributes 40% to Somalia’s Gross Domestic Product.
