Water & fodder availability along animal trade routes in the Horn

The livestock export trade from the Horn of Africa (HoA) to the Middle East is one of the largest export movements and among the oldest and most vibrant cross-border livestock trading systems in the world. A project of FAO seeks to assist pastoralists, traders and exporters to enhance the competitiveness of the trade and to expand the market share in the Middle East. FAO is supporting livestock and rangeland production along the trade routes, including identification and dissemination of best practices on rangeland productivity and rehabilitation of water infrastructure.

In 2016, FAO carried out a “Baseline and good practices study on water and fodder availability along the livestock trade routes in the Horn of Africa” (2017, 94pp) to identify the location and direction of the main livestock trade routes, appropriate sites for rehabilitation and development of strategic livestock water sources, and appropriate sites for adaptation of good practices on fodder production and rehabilitation of natural range along the routes. Local stakeholders in the four focus countries (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan) helped identify priority interventions for water infrastructure development / rehabilitation and fodder production.

Posted on 19 November 2017 in Pastoralism & Marketing, Value of Pastoralism