Livestock is the backbone of Somalia’s economy and the primary livelihood of its people. The country holds one of Africa’s largest herds, an estimated 56 million head made up of goats, sheep, camels, and cattle, sustained mainly through nomadic pastoralism and agro-pastoralism across the nation’s extensive rangelands. The sector underpins more than 60% of the population’s livelihoods and generates approximately 80% of agricultural GDP and 45% of national GDP, while also supplying around 80% of the country’s external earnings, chiefly through live-animal exports to Middle Eastern markets.
Export performance between 2021 and 2025 shows a sector recovering strongly from the 2016/2017 drought, with revenue climbing from US$523 million to a peak of US$951 million in 2024, even as exported volumes fluctuated between 3.7 and 7.4 million animals a year. (Central Bank of Somalia 2025) This growth has been supported by an increase of private sector investment, lifting the ban on Somali livestock from Saudi Arabia, expanding policies and institutional framework, including the Somalia Livestock Sector Development Strategy (2020-2030), the National Animal Feed Policy, the Veterinary Law Code, and donor-backed programmes such as ACALS, BREFONS, FSRP, and DRIVE, alongside coordination with international partners including FAO, AU-IBAR, the EU, and ILRI.
Somalia’s livestock sector, despite its major economic and livelihood importance, faces overlapping structural, climatic, health, market, and institutional constraints. Certification and veterinary capacity are concentrated in few locations, while disease surveillance, laboratories, and enforcement remain weak and uneven across Federal Member States. Recurrent droughts, floods, and irregular rainfall degrade pasture and water resources, drive up mortality, and force distress sales and migration, while diseases like Rift Valley Fever, worsened by limited vaccination and diagnostic capacity, threaten both herd health and trade access. The sector is further exposed to Gulf market import bans tied to disease outbreaks, and its narrow export base heightens market concentration risk.
Sector Briefing – Livestock Situation in Somalia
Warbixin Kooban – Xaaladda Xoolaha Soomaaliya