The livestock sector is central to the economic and cultural life of the Somali people.  The sector provides food and income to over 60 percent of the country’s population. Burao is one of the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa especially for export sheep and goats from the Somali region of Ethiopia and parts of southern Somalia. However, the following challenges need to be addressed.

1. Improving livestock infrastructures will improve animal welfare issues. It will also be important in complying with international livestock trade
and thus reduce marketing costs and stabilize trader profits
Establishing and adopting formal grading standards would be an ideal mechanism of overcoming the price discounts and price fluctuations when
involving international livestock trade.
Burao livestock market actors
Ali Kanu, Abdirizak Kayd, Musa Awale, Nahla Abas, Mohamed Abdilatif
The livestock sector is central to the economic and cultural life of the Somali people. The sector provides food and income to over 60 percent of
the country’s population. Burao is one of the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa especially for export sheep and goats from the Somali
region of Ethiopia and parts of southern Somalia. However, the following challenges need to be addressed.
Weak infrastructure: The livestock market in Burao is in poor condition. The government upgraded the market by providing basic infrastructures
like sheds and loading/unloading ramps. But there is still a need to address issues of water provision, fencing, veterinary inspection as well as
other facilities. This is crucially important incompliance with international livestock trade requirements.
Informal grading: The absence of a formal grading system exposes Somali traders to significant price discounts and incessant price fluctuations
when engaging international livestock trade
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The livestock import bans by Saudi Arabia were as a result of poor livestock infrastructures as well
as lack of proper health certification procedures. This resulted in the dramatic depreciation of
Somaliland Shilling, and local currency, loss of revenue by port authorities, urban poverty and
unemployment and deforestation (Holleman, 2002).
Its is of necessity to formalize classes and grades for livestock to provide traders and consumers of
livestock with a thorough knowledge of the classes and grades of livestock as they relate to meat
quality requirements (Steffen et al, 1998).
● Sheikh, Somaliland ● Tel +252 63 730118 ● http://www.stvs-edu.org
Acknowledgements: The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), The Igad Sheikh Technical Veterinary School (ISTVS), Terra Nuova
Funding: DANIDA, Denmark
This document is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution –Non commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License Marech 2015
Challenges in Burao livestock market
Conclusion
The way forward
The livestock sector is central to the economic and cultural life of the Somali people. The sector provides food and income to over 60 percent of
the country’s population. Burao is one of the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa especially for export sheep and goats from the Somali
region of Ethiopia and parts of southern Somalia. However, the following challenges need to be addressed.
Weak infrastructure: The livestock market in Burao is in poor condition. The government upgraded the market by providing basic infrastructures
like sheds and loading/unloading ramps. But there is still a need to address issues of water provision, fencing, veterinary inspection as well as
other facilities. This is crucially important incompliance with international livestock trade requirements.
Informal grading: The absence of a formal grading system exposes Somali traders to significant price discounts and incessant price fluctuations
when engaging international livestock trade
text