Trade and ports
Frankincense and myrrh: Somalia's resin trade
Frankincense (foox, beeyo, maydi) and myrrh (malmal) are resins tapped from wild trees in the mountains of Sanaag and Bari. Maydi, from Boswellia frereana, is sold as the most expensive frankincense. Harvesters were paid about $5 to $7 a kilo in 2016 and about $6 in 2021, and one Hargeisa exporter estimated Somaliland's exports at more than 3,000 tonnes a year.
The trees and the grades
Frankincense is a resin from Boswellia trees. In Somali regions two kinds are traded: Boswellia carterii (also called B. sacra), which also grows in Oman, and Boswellia frereana, sold as maydi (Comboni Missionaries, citing Kontinente, 19 March 2021). VOA described maydi as "the most expensive frankincense resin" (VOA, 23 December 2016).
Younis Aroma, a firm in northern Puntland certified by FairWild for sustainable wild harvesting, lists frankincense from B. sacra and B. frereana, myrrh from Commiphora myrrha, and opoponax from Commiphora erythraea (FairWild, Younis Aroma).
Where it grows
The trees grow on the cliffs of the Cal Madow mountains, which rise more than 2,400 metres above the Gulf of Aden, around Erigavo in Sanaag (AP via Global News, Jason Patinkin, 24 December 2016). VOA photographed harvesters near Gudmo and Mader Moge and sorters in Erigavo and Burao (VOA, 2016). In Puntland the trade runs through Bari region, with resin shipped from Qandala port (Radio Ergo, 7 June 2021).
The work and the pay
| Who | Pay or price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Harvesters, Somaliland | Raw resin rose from about $1 a kilo to $5 to $7 over six years to 2016 | AP, 2016 |
| Harvesters, Mader Moge | About $6 a kilo, paid in dollars; each tapping gives 2 to 5 kg | Comboni Missionaries, 2021 |
| Sorters, Erigavo | About 40 cents a kilo; the fastest sort about 5 kg a day | Comboni Missionaries, 2021 |
| Harvester, Qandala | Local price fell from $5 to $6 a kilo to $2 in 2021 | Radio Ergo, 2021 |
| Harvester renting trees, Qandala | Paid $250 a year to rent two trees and earned about $3,000 a year, harvesting in June and October | Radio Ergo, 2021 |
Men climb the cliffs at dawn, some barefoot. A harvester told AP that every year some fall and break legs or die (AP, 2016). In Mader Moge, 80 families live from resin, and Erigavo has about 100 resin merchants (Comboni Missionaries, 2021).
Exports and buyers
- Hargeisa exporter Barkhad Jibril Hassan estimated Somaliland's resin exports at more than 3,000 tonnes a year. His biggest customer was the US firm doTerra (Comboni Missionaries, 2021).
- Somaliland's environment minister, Shukri Ismail, told AP in 2016 that frankincense was the government's biggest source of revenue after livestock. Shipments went to Yemen and Saudi Arabia and on to Europe and the United States (AP, 2016).
- From Qandala, resin went to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. One exporter sold 150 bags in 2020, against more than 1,200 bags in a normal year, after buyers stopped ordering during COVID-19. About 200 families in Qandala and Bargaal turned to other work (Radio Ergo, 2021).
Overtapping and conflict
Ecologist Anjanette DeCarlo of Conserve Cal Madow told AP that adult trees were dying at an "alarming" rate because tappers cut too often and all year round, and that a new tree takes about 40 years before it can be tapped (AP, 2016). In March 2025 Radio Ergo reported that fighting between Puntland forces and the Islamic State group in Bari had cut about 2,500 rural families off from their frankincense trees (Environmental Peacebuilding Association, citing Radio Ergo, 11 March 2025).
Sources disagree
- Harvester prices. AP gave $5 to $7 a kilo in 2016, a 2021 report from Mader Moge gave about $6, and Radio Ergo reported $2 a kilo in Qandala in 2021, down from $5 to $6 (AP; Comboni Missionaries; Radio Ergo).
For the rest of Somalia's exports, see Trade: exports and imports.
Sources
- Comboni Missionaries, citing Kontinente, 19 March 2021 · combonimissionaries.ie
- VOA, 23 December 2016 · voanews.com
- FairWild, Younis Aroma · fairwild.org
- AP via Global News, Jason Patinkin, 24 December 2016 · globalnews.ca
- Radio Ergo, 7 June 2021 · radioergo.org
- Environmental Peacebuilding Association, citing Radio Ergo, 11 March 2025 · environmentalpeacebuilding.org
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