# The Somali goat: breed, milk and trade

> The Somali goat in facts: what it looks like, where it is kept, milk yield in drought, meat exports with sheep, and what DAD-IS records about the breed.

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

## The breed

The Somali is a breed, or a group of breeds, of domestic goat. It is found in Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and north-eastern Kenya, and is used mainly for meat ([Wikipedia, Somali goat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_goat)).

The goats have short ears and short hair. The coat is usually white, sometimes with spots or patches. Both males and females usually have horns (same source).

## Built for drought

Somali goats are drought tolerant. When milked, each can give **one to three kilograms of milk a day**, even when water is scarce ([Wikipedia, Somali goat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_goat)).

## How many?

Three countries report the Somali goat to the FAO's Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS): Kenya, [Somalia and Yemen](/en/relations/yemen/). None of the three reports population numbers, so DAD-IS lists its conservation status as unknown ([Wikipedia, Somali goat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_goat)).

Goats are counted with sheep in export figures. The Central Bank recorded **5.9 million sheep and goats** exported in 2024, out of more than 6.4 million animals in all ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). In 2016 the Ministry of Livestock said 5.5 million animals had been sold abroad that year by late November ([Bloomberg, in Gulf Times, 26 November 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)).

## Where they go

Somali livestock goes live by sea mainly to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) and [Kuwait](/en/diaspora/kuwait/) ([Gulf Times, 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). Sales peak before the Hajj. Estimates of the Hajj season's share of yearly exports range from 52 to 70 percent ([Mtimet and others, Global Food Security, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8417120/)). Animals pass through quarantine stations built by Saudi importers at Berbera, where they are inspected, sampled, tested and vaccinated before a health certificate is issued (same source). For the companies that run these stations, see [Berbera livestock quarantine companies](/en/businesses/berbera-livestock-quarantine-companies/).

## Why buyers want them

In 2016 [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/), director-general of the Ministry of Livestock, said traditional herding gives Somali meat "a unique taste", and credited vaccination by veterinary workers with keeping animals healthy and raising sales. Over the five years before, the FAO had worked with the government, with EU and UK money, on livestock infrastructure, vaccination and fodder ([Bloomberg, in Gulf Times, 26 November 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). The same report said Somalia already supplied Egypt and was about to start exporting to Malaysia.

## Related pages

- [Blackheaded Somali sheep](/en/economy/blackheaded-somali-sheep/)
- [Camels in Somalia](/en/economy/camels-in-somalia/)
- [Gulf bans on Somali livestock](/en/economy/gulf-bans-on-somali-livestock/)

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