Market prices in Burao livestock market

Read story here: https://igadstvs.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/market-prices-in-burao-livestock-market/

Authors: Abdirahman Ismail, Anna Silverstone

The heart of Somali life rests in its livestock. Used for trade, dowries and livelihood, camels, sheep and goats are among our most valued possessions.

Comprising 80% of our GDP and involving almost all of the country either directly or indirectly, it is no exaggeration to say that livestock is as essential to Somaliland as we ourselves.

Arriving at Burao Livestock Market around 9:30 on a hot March morning, the team from ISTVS set out to uncover the exact price of livestock in the market as well as the market forces that drive fluctuation. Our targets were the buyers and producers themselves for the first hand information they could provide. Within the Burao market there are five main market players: the producers, the brokers, the small agents, the buyers for local consumption and the buyers for export.

While we only managed to talk to market brokers and small agents, all were highly forthcoming. According to their experience price fluctuations occur due to demand, supply and season, as well as slightly less obvious factors such as bad roads, weather and being interviewed on the price of their stock. As can be seen from the table below the price of small ruminants can vary by as much as $20 per animal for the export market, the difference becoming even greater when comparing Haj export prices to local consumption.

 

A market full of life: Burao livestock market, Burao, Somaliland.

Read story here: https://igadstvs.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/burao-livestockmarket/

Authors: Mohamed Abdilatif, Muse Awale, Abdirizak Kayd, Ali Kanu, Nahla Abass

Some of the shades and actors in the market

From far it looks plain and disorderly, but at a closer look and brief interaction with the different actors, the story is different. It is a tale of thousands of people who flock to the livestock market daily to making a living. Being one of the largest livestock markets in the Somali eco-system and probably the largest in Somaliland, Burao livestock market is full of life.

It is an open market that brings together thousands of people daily, from various backgrounds.

The market does not only serve the actors in the value chain, such as producers, traders, middlemen and the tax collectors. It is also a source of livelihood for hundreds of people, which can be referred to as sub actors, they include, dozens of restaurateurs, milk sellers, tea sellers, miraa (khat) sellers, kiosks, animal transporters and loaders etc.

The main market serves goats and sheep trade only, the cattle and camel market is some distance from the main livestock market. Whereas there are no official figures on the daily transactions, it is thought that hundreds of thousands of dollars (can be millions of dollars during the high seasons) change hands daily. In the market two groups of livestock are sold, one group for local consumption and another for export. In that regard the market contributes immensely to the local economy.

In a nutshell, there are so many people who flock to the market for a good reason. Some sell animals, some buy, others buy and resell. It looks so simple from outside, but in reality it is a market that is full of life, every day the market serves thousands of people and the majority of them are not the main actors.

The following is a systematic flow of the market cycle:

A lady buyer looking at sheep and goats with intention of buying

The lady buyer checking the body condition of a goat

Shoats being loaded on the truck

Shoats en route to Berbera after going through the process of buying and selling, branding and loading

 

Traditional knowledge of Nairobi sheep disease (HULUMBE)

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Livestock has been the source of food and income for Somali community for the entire their life. Literally the word Somali is related to livestock which shows the degree to which Somali community attached to animals. Therefore, it is not a surprise that Somalis have extensive indigenous knowledge on management and control of diseases.

This study will focus on traditional knowledge of Hulumbe’’ tick born disease of sheep’’.

66 respondents were interviewed among which 56 % of them were males and 44% were females. All respondents were above 30 years old, because old people have experience and knowledge about the traditional disease diagnosis and treatment.

Traditional diagnosis: Bloody diarrhea, change of the hair color, isolation of the herd and presence of tick in the area are the common signs Somali community use to diagnose the animals.

There are several traditional disease treatment and management strategies that are practiced. The respondents believe that the treatments are not 100% effective and therefore they use a combination of methods. Below are some of the traditional treatments used in Somaliland.

Traditionally Somalis control and prevent this disease by collecting and burning the ticks. In early morning children are sent to animal pen, and they collect ticks from the animals, after collection ticks are immersed in to animal urine. Some farmers prefer to burn it instead of immersing to animal urine.

If the area has a lot of ticks they move their animals far away from the tick infested environment.

In conclusion, Traditional knowledge of Nairobi sheep disease in Somaliland is in agreement with scientific knowledge particularly in diagnosis and control the vector. However, this is a viral disease and therefore the treatment used may not be sufficient to help animal recover.

 

Using livestock manure to improve soil fertility offers ways to enhsnce forage SNF fodder production

Read story here: https://igadstvs.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/using-livestock-manure-to-improve-soil-fertility-offers-ways-to-enhance-forage-snf-fodder-production/

Somaliland Pastoralists face frequent feed shortages for their livestock. This is caused mainly by water scarcity, low soil fertility and the high cost of fodder (due to demands from exporters).

This is a perenial problem and therefore, there is need for long term solution, the use of livestock manure have been shown to increase dry matter in other countries but no studies have undertaken to evaluate the use of livestock by product in Somaliland.

Feed forage is one of the most important factors in livestock production among the Livestock keepers, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Additionally soil nutrient have depleted over time hence the application of fertilizers and manure . An experiment was carried out under a rain shelter in Malaysia to determine the effects of manure on soil fertility and drip irrigation on forage dry matter content.

The results of the study indicated that total dry matter was higher in livestock manure rather than commercial fertilizer. The highest growth parameters and shoot dry weight were recorded from daily irrigation intervals with goat manure, while the highest yield components were obtained from daily irrigation frequency with NPK fertilizer and poultry manure.

In the light of these results, therefore, for optimum biomass of forage, high irrigation frequency with goat and poultry manure is the most viable option while yield was greatly favoured by a high irrigation frequency with NPK. These findings from research in Malaysia suggest some opportunities for Somaliland to test the hypothesis that the use of livestock manure, with drip irrigation, will lower the costs of livestock feed among livestock keepers offering more sustainable ways for pastoralists to earn their livelihoods.