Knowledge of livestock grading and market
participation among small ruminant producers in
northern Somalia
Wanyoike F., N. Mtimet, N. Ndiwa, L. Godiah, A. Warsame and Karen Marshall
6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture
Nairobi, Kenya, 27–30 October 2014

Introduction
 Livestock is the leading economic sector in Somaliland
 Employs around 65% of the population
 Contributes to approximately 40% of GDP
 Contributes to 80% of foreign export earnings
 Sheep and goats (shoats) are among the most important
livestock reared and exported in Somaliland
 In 2012 >3m small ruminants worth >200m USD were
exported at the port of Barbera
 A significant number of small ruminants are also marketed
domestically generating employment to the local population
especially women

Introduction
 ILRI and Terra Nuova have been engaged in efforts to enhance
livestock production and marketing in Somalia
 Value chain studies by the two partners (2008 – 2012)
documented usage of an indigenous animal grading system in
livestock marketing
At t r ibut es an d t heir l evel s
Gr ades
Gr ade 1 Gr ade 2 Gr ade3 Lo c al q ual it y
age
 Adul t s
 yo un g
Conf or mat ion
 exc el l en t
 g o o d
 f air
body
condit ion
 f at
 n o r mal
 t hin
Sex
 mal e
 f emal e
Dec r easing Qual it y
Dec r easing Pr ic e
The grading system

Introduction
 While the grading system presents an opportunity for animal
producers to make higher profits not much is known about their
knowledge and utilisation of the system as they were not
included in these studies.
 This study sought to fill this dearth of information by focusing on
market participation and awareness about the grading & pricing
system among the sheep and goats producers
 The study was motivated by the realization that producers cannot
make deliberate efforts to exploit the grading system to realize
higher incomes if they are not aware about it.

Methodology
 Data for this study was collected from a random sample of 144
pastoral and agro-pastoral households who rear sheep and
goats in Somaliland.
 The study area covered 3 Livelihood zones:
 Togdheer (agropastoral): vegetables; sheep and goats
 West Golis (pastoral): sheep, goats & camels
 Hawd (pastoral): sheep, goats & camels
 Settlements in each zone were grouped into those located close to
the market (within 20km radius) and those located far from the
market
 From each settlement category, 2 settlements were randomly
picked.

Methodology (Cont’d)
 Lists of households that kept sheep and goats in each selected
settlement were prepared with the help of local leaders.
 12 households were randomly selected and a semi structured
questionnaire administered on the most senior male and/or
female in the sample households.
 Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate awareness about the
grading system and also to investigate whether the producers
made any deliberate efforts to exploit the grading system for
higher returns
 A Heckman two stage selection model was used to evaluate the
effect of knowledge about the grading system and also other
factors on market participation.

Methodology: Study area
West Golis Pastoral:
Goats, camel, sheep
[light blue]
Togdheer Agro-Pastoral:
Sheep, goats & vegetables
[light purple]
Hawd pastoral:
camel, shoats
[yellow tan]
Figure 1. Livelihood Zones, FSNAU (Data source: FSAU, 2009)

Study area
Figure 2. Settlements’ localisation

Results
Descriptive statistics for the surveyed households
Variable Level Number (%)
Gender of respondents Male 44%
Female 56%
Gender of HH head Male 85%
Female 15%
Level of education of HH head None 77%
Elementary 12%
Intermediate 8%
Sec. Graduate 3%
Age of HH head Mean 45.5
Std. Dev. 12.5
Number of shoats kept Mean 53.1
Owners of shoats in HH Male HH head only 48%
Male HH head & wife/wives 48%
others 4%

Results (Cont’d)
Contribution by Household members in shoats activities
53
45
12
10
13
39
23
9
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Labour Decision on sales &
purchases
Both spouces
A woman in the HH
Man in the HH
Others

Results (Cont’d)
Awareness about the grading system

Results (Cont’d)
Knowledge of the grading system by farmers

Results (Cont’d)
Percentage of men and women producers citing attributes
considered during grading
96
100
94
94
99
92
99
8
96
5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Breed
Nutritional stratus
Conformation
Sex
Age
% of respondents
Atribute
women
men

Number of sheep and goats sold
9
8.2
4.4
14.2
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
All HH Sales dec. made
Jointly
Sales dec. made
female spouce
Sales dec. made by
male HHH
Results (Cont’d)
 >80% of households had sold some sheep and/or goats during
the previous 12 months.

Determinants of market participation
Results
Variables Intensity of
participation
Probability of
participation
Coef. Std. err Coef. Std. err
Constant 1.15*** 0.38 0.87 1.18
Gender of HH head (1=man; 0=woman) -0.33 0.22 0.15 0.84
Knowledge of the grading system 0.06 0.10 0.14 0.30
Age of HH head 0.00 0.01 -0.04** 0.02
Level of education of household head -0.04 0.08 0.42 0.48
Sales decision maker
(control=Female)
Male HH head 0.73*** 0.21 0.04 0.69
Jointly by spouses 0.37* 0.20 0.15 0.65
Study site (control=Togdheer
ag. pastoral)
Hawd Pastoral 0.35** 0.18 0.42 0.67
West Golis pastoral 0.54*** 0.19 0.24 0.63
Number of sheep and goats Kept 0.04** 0.02

Conclusions
 Results confirm the importance of these animals as a source of
income to producer households.
 Participation by women in rearing of small ruminants was found
to be strong and thus these activities provide a good entry point
in promoting gender parity in economic welfare in the study area
 Somali producers are well versed with the livestock grading
system safe for minute details but this has no significant effect
on market participation and participation intensity.
 Number of animals kept significantly influenced market
participation justifying interventions designed to safeguard
stocks of small ruminants held by producers. .