# Blackheaded Somali sheep: the breed behind the livestock trade

> The Blackheaded Somali sheep: what it looks like, where it is kept, why it suits dry land, its role in exports through Berbera and Bosaso, and the breeds descended from it.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/economy/blackheaded-somali-sheep/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## What it looks like

The Blackheaded Somali is a breed of domestic sheep. It is white with a black head. It is a **hair sheep**, meaning it grows hair, not wool, and it is **polled**, meaning it has no horns. It belongs to the **fat-rumped** group of breeds, which store fat on the rump ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)).

The fat rump works as a store of energy. Animals draw on it in the long dry seasons, when grazing is poor. Hair instead of wool keeps the animal cooler in heat.

## Where it is kept

The breed is found throughout Somalia, in Djibouti, in eastern Ethiopia, in northern Kenya, and as far west as the Toposa area of south-eastern South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/) ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)). In other words, it covers almost all the lands where Somalis herd.

Somalia reports two breeds of sheep to the FAO's Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS): the Blackheaded Somali and the **Somali Arab** ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)).

## Meat and exports

The breed is raised mainly for meat and is a major export, chiefly to the Arabian Peninsula through the port of Berbera ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)). The same source names the markets of **[Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/)** and **Yirowe** as among the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa, with as many as 10,000 sheep and goats sold a day.

Sheep and goats are counted together in trade figures. The Central Bank recorded 5.9 million sheep and goats among the animals exported in 2024 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). At Berbera alone, sheep and goat exports ran at 2.8 to 3.2 million a year in 2013 to 2016, then fell to about 1.3 million in 2017 and 2018 after Saudi Arabia's partial ban ([Mtimet and others, Global Food Security, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)).

| Year | Sheep and goats from Berbera | To Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2,852,875 | 2,339,358 |
| 2014 | 3,054,416 | 2,412,989 |
| 2015 | 3,159,883 | 2,875,494 |
| 2016 | 2,806,612 | 2,413,686 |
| 2017 | 1,327,185 | 1,088,292 |
| 2018 | 1,285,307 | 1,066,805 |

Source for the table: [Mtimet and others, 2021, Table 1](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/).

## Breeds that came from it

South Africa's **Blackheaded Persian** derives from the Blackheaded Somali ([Wikipedia, Blackheaded Somali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheaded_Somali)). The Blackheaded Persian was in turn crossed with the Dorset Horn in South Africa to create the **Dorper**, now one of the most widely farmed meat sheep in the world ([Wikipedia, Dorper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorper)).

## Related pages

- [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/)
- [The Somali goat](/en/economy/somali-goat/)
- [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/)

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