Export of live animals to the Gulf states continued to be Somalia’s leading foreign exchange earner in 2015, registering steady annual growth with a 6 percent increase, according to latest data released on Friday by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
A statement issued in Nairobi Thursday says in 2015, Somalia exported 4.9 million goats and sheep, 295,000 cattle and 72,000 camels, putting an estimated USD 384 million into Somali livestock owners’ pockets.
It adds that the livestock sector continues to offer significant growth potential, boosted by continued livelihood, and export-focused interventions, good prices and growing markets in the Middle East. Livestock contributes 40 percent to the Somalia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Obviously we are delighted by these figures” says Said Hussein Iid, Somalia’s Minister of Livestock, Forestry and Range.
“We need to diversity into new markets, make sure that livestock have good year round access to high quality fodder and continue to build a national system for managing animal health across the whole of Somalia” Iid adds.
Last year, more than 2,600 Somali camels were sold to Egypt, the first such large commercial deal since the outbreak of conflict in Somalia some 25 years ago.
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