# Burao livestock market

> Burao's livestock market in facts: its size, where the animals come from, the Yirowe market, brokers, export buyers and prices, and the 2016 drought closure.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/economy/burao-livestock-market/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Size

Burao and Yirowe are described as among the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa, with **as many as 10,000 sheep and goats** sold a day, many of them shipped to the Gulf states through the port of Berbera ([Wikipedia, Burao District](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_District)). The Wikipedia article on Yirowe says that market handles up to 70 percent of the sheep and goats and 65 percent of the camels exported from Berbera ([Wikipedia, Yirowe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yirowe)); that article cites a 2001 trade directory and a 1998 journal for these shares.

## Where the animals come from

Animals reach Burao from all over the Horn of Africa ([Wikipedia, Burao District](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_District)). A presentation hosted by IGAD's livestock centre names the Somali Region of Ethiopia and parts of southern Somalia as important sources of Burao's export animals, and describes the market grounds as in poor condition ([IGAD, Burao livestock market actors](https://pt.slideshare.net/IGADSTVS/burao-livestock-market-actors)). Some animals are sold for meat at home ([Radio Ergo, 31 May 2016](https://radioergo.org/en/2016/05/burao-livestock-market-back-in-business-after-two-month-closure/)).

## Buyers, brokers and prices

Brokers (dilaal) match herders with buyers. In May 2016 a Saudi-owned export company, Al-Jabir, spent **USD 2.5 million in three days** buying **48,700 goats** at Burao: 18,000 on the Saturday, 15,500 on the Sunday and 15,200 on the Monday. Export goats sold for **USD 45 to 61** each. Only goats in excellent condition were bought for Saudi Arabia, a broker for the company said ([Radio Ergo, 2016](https://radioergo.org/en/2016/05/burao-livestock-market-back-in-business-after-two-month-closure/)).

Three years earlier a good goat had sold for about USD 80. Traders linked the fall to the war in Yemen and economic trouble in some Arab countries (same source). Sales rise ahead of Ramadan, Eid and the Hajj.

## The 2016 closure

The market closed for two months in early 2016 because of drought and the poor condition of the animals. About **1,500 people** depend directly on it. One broker told Radio Ergo that on a good day he could earn up to USD 200, which paid school fees for ten of his children, and that he had borrowed money to get through the closure ([Radio Ergo, 2016](https://radioergo.org/en/2016/05/burao-livestock-market-back-in-business-after-two-month-closure/)).

## From Burao to the ship

Export animals go by truck to Berbera, where quarantine stations check, test and vaccinate them before shipment ([Mtimet and others, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)). See [Berbera livestock quarantine companies](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/), [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/) and [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/).

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