# The cattle trade from southern Somalia to Kenya

> The Somalia to Kenya cattle trade: why it grew after 1991, Garissa market, stock routes from Afmadow and Boni, trekking and trucking, informal taxes, credit, prices and Somali traders' ranches.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/economy/cattle-trade-with-kenya/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Why the trade moved

When the central state collapsed on 21 January 1991 and fighting blocked the old routes to Kismayo and Mogadishu, livestock traders in southern Somalia took their business across the border to Kenya ([Ng'asike, Stepputat and Njoka, Pastoralism, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y)). Kenya had opened its borders under reforms in the late 1980s and has a shortage of meat, so Somali cattle found buyers (same source).

## Garissa market

Garissa, in north-eastern Kenya, hosts what the study calls the biggest livestock market in East and Central Africa. The market has moved three times to cope with the crowds; its latest move, to Waberi, was agreed between the local Somali Council of Elders and the county government. The elders sit on Garissa's Livestock Marketing Association, which runs the market and settles disputes ([Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y)).

- Cattle are sold on **Wednesdays** only; sheep and goats every day.
- Cattle make up **90 percent** of animals traded, sheep and goats 7 percent, donkeys 2 percent and camels less than 1 percent.
- An estimated **60 to 70 percent** of the cattle come from Somalia, mostly large brown-red cattle that resist drought and weigh 280 to 350 kg live (grade II).

All from [Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y).

## Routes and costs

Small traders and brokers buy from "bush markets" and from primary markets such as **Afmadow** in [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), where cattle gather in hundreds. Hired trekkers then walk them to Garissa. From **Boni** in the far south, old stock routes run west through Hulugho to Garissa. About **20 percent** of Somali livestock entering Kenya comes by truck; the rest is walked ([Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y)).

- **Prices:** about USD 200 a head in Somalia, about USD 400 in Garissa, about USD 500 in Nairobi. Grade II cattle sell for USD 500 to 550 in Nairobi.
- **Taxes on the way:** the study reports informal taxes and harassment from clan militias, [Al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/) and Jubaland authorities. Al-Shabaab claims one head of cattle from every 40 to 45, sometimes collected on the way back.
- **Formal tax:** less than 30 percent of cattle are formally taxed at the border, according to the Kenya Livestock Marketing Council; Garissa County charges a cess of about USD 36 a truck.
- **Credit:** about 70 percent of deals in Nairobi are made on informal credit, and defaulters are traced through clan networks.

All from [Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y).

## How it has changed

In the early 2000s, 75 percent of the cattle leaving Garissa went to Nairobi. By 2018 that share had fallen to 30 to 40 percent, because since 2010 wealthier Somali traders have bought or leased ranches near the Kenyan coast to fatten cattle for sale at home or for export through Mombasa ([Ng'asike and others, 2020](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13570-020-00185-y), citing Little 2005).

## Related pages

- [Boran and Somali cattle](/en/economy/boran-and-somali-cattle/)
- [Lower Juba](/en/regions/lower-juba/)

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