On the Hoof - Livestock Trade in Darfur

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capital each requires (Young et al., 2009). The oldercamels exported to Egypt cost more, and there aresubstantial costs associated with the formalizationof the trade through Dongola (see Annex 2). Incontrast, the younger camels exported to Libya costless. Although there are fees to be paid to enablethe herds to move securely, the informality of thetrade means the formal taxation burden is less.Thus, less capital is required for trading with Libyacompared with Egypt.8.3 Cross-border trade with ChadThe cross-border trade in livestock with Chadhas long been important to the economy of WestDarfur. Fora Boranga and Geneina livestockmarkets in particular have been supplied withlivestock from Chad and have exported to Chad.During the conflict years, this trade has beenbadly disrupted by political hostilities between thegovernments of Chad and Sudan. Diplomaticrelations between Chad and Sudan have beensevered a number of times during the 2000s,severely impacting trade, as the border was officiallyclosed. In April 2010, the border reopened asSudanese-Chadian relationships improvedfollowing the visit of Chadian President IdrissDeby to Khartoum in February 2010. During theperiod of fieldwork for this study, there were manyreports of livestock being traded between Chad andSudan, especially cattle and camels being suppliedfrom Chad to Darfur. Camels are brought fromChad to Seraf Omra in order to avoid morerigorous market controls imposed by the Chadianauthorities. Through this study it has not beenpossible to establish the extent to which livestockfrom Chad have replaced Darfuri livestock in themarket as local supplies have fallen. This is animportant point to pursue, as there is evidence thatthe direction of trade flows between Geneina andChad have been affected by Darfur’s conflict:whereas many goods and commodities used to beexported from Geneina to Chad pre-conflict,disruption to Darfur’s economy in terms of acollapse of agricultural processing and constraintsto transportation during the conflict years, as wellas rapid urbanization (see below), appears to havereversed this trade flow, and there are manyChadian traders bringing goods into Geneinamarket (Buchanan-Smith and Fadul, 2008).8.4 Domestic meat consumption withinDarfurDarfur has undergone a rapid and distortedprocess of urbanization since the conflict began in2003. 24 Many of Darfur’s towns have doubled ortrebled in size during this nine-year period. Nyala,for example, has grown approximately 2.5 timessince 2003, to a population of around 1.3 millionpeople. This process of urbanization has beentriggered by massive displacement and by theunprecedented international presence ofinternational aid agencies and peace-keepingtroops, which in turn have fuelled the urbaneconomy. Business interests have also relocatedfrom insecure rural areas and villages to thegreater security of Darfur’s main towns.One of the consequences of this burgeoningurban population has been growing demand formeat in all of Darfur’s towns. Indeed, many ofthese newly urban households used to be livestockproducers but have now been displaced or havechosen to move to the towns and have becomeurban consumers, purchasing most of their foodneeds.In Tomat, for example, one of South Darfur’smost thriving cattle markets during the conflictyears, at least 80% of cattle sold used to bedestined for Omdurman. That ratio has fallen toaround 70%, as more cattle are now taken toNyala to meet the growing local demand formeat. In other markets such as Zalingei, El Fasher,Kebkabiya, and Geneina, a much higherproportion of livestock traded are now slaughteredto meet local consumption needs.The shift in Darfur from being a majorsupplier of meat to the rest of Sudan to becominga major consumer of meat through themarketplace is reflected in the rapidly rising meatprices. Pre-conflict, meat prices in Darfur majortowns were approximately half the price of meatin Khartoum, around SDG5 per kg for lamb inNyala and El Fasher compared with SDG10 perkg in Khartoum. In Darfur’s main areas oflivestock production, the price of lamb wasusually around SDG3 to 4 per kg. During theconflict, meat prices in Darfur have risen rapidly,four- or five-fold. In some of Darfur’s majortowns the price of meat has reached almost thesame price as in Khartoum, especially in El Fasher.24See Buchanan-Smith et al. (2011) and UN (2010).48
See Table 6. The market chain for livestock soldfor local slaughter is either from producer to smalltrader to butcher, or directly from producer tobutcher; large-scale traders are rarely involved.The evidence points to an emerging localmeat industry in Darfur. Just as the rapid processof urbanization associated with the conflict yearsis unlikely to be reversed when peace and stabilityare restored, so the increased local demand formeat is unlikely to decline. 25 This implies marketopportunities for the future.8.5 A short history of Darfur’s abattoirsAs one of Sudan’s main livestock producingareas and as a major source of livestock to meetdomestic meat consumption needs in Sudan, itseems extraordinary that the greater Darfur regionhas only one slaughterhouse, in Nyala.Constructed in 1999, it has had a chequeredhistory and has suffered a series of closures duringthe 2000s. It first closed in 2004, when it couldno longer honor an export contract to supplymeat on a weekly basis to Jordan. It wasrehabilitated in 2006, with the support of ShiryanAshamal Company from Central Sudan and witha loan from the federal government and openedin 2007, winning a lucrative contract to supplymeat to the African Union (AU) peace-keepingforces. But it closed again in 2008, apparently dueto a failure to secure export contracts (Shumba,2010). Since then, it has operated intermittently.When it is functioning to full capacity, the abattoircan handle 3,000 sheep and goats per day and 500cattle (Ibid.). However, it generally suffers frompoor infrastructure and has faced problems ofquality control and management issues.There is currently a plan to construct a newabattoir in Nyala, although progress has been veryslow. An abattoir was also constructed in Geneinain 2006, but was not completed and has neverbeen operational. Both of these experiences ledsome to question the commitment to improvethis key facility that could play an important rolein stimulating Darfur’s livestock trade and inefficiency gains if so many livestock no longerhave to be trekked on the hoof to Omdurman,especially during the dry season. The livestocktrade in Sudan is currently controlled fromOmdurman, and there may be concerns thatimproving facilities in Darfur would draw businessaway from Central Sudan.Table 6. Meat prices in Darfur and in KhartoumMarket Price per kg—2002 (dry season) Price per kg—2011 (dry season)El Fasher Beef 4 16Lamb 5 18-20Nyala Beef 3 14Lamb 5 14-16Zalingei Beef 3 15Lamb 3 17Fora Boranga Beef 3 13Lamb 4 14Seraf Omra Beef 3 12Lamb 4 14Khartoum Beef 7 14Lamb 10 22Source: field work in Darfur, March to May 201125Meat consumption in Sudan overall is estimated to be growing by 3.5% per year (between 1994 and 2003), faster than thepopulation growth rate (Idriss, 2008).June 2012 • ON THE HOOF: The Livestock Trade In Darfur 49
Page 1 and 2: On the HoofLivestock Trade in Darfu
Page 3 and 4: On the HoofLivestock Trade in Darfu
Page 6 and 7: 9. Trade in hides and skins........
Page 8 and 9: major grievance amongst livestock t
Page 10 and 11: 1. Introduction1.1 Why this study?L
Page 12 and 13: 3. A review of official statistics
Page 14 and 15: 2. An overview of Sudan’s livesto
Page 16 and 17: The main methods for exporting live
Page 18 and 19: as other exporting countries with m
Page 20 and 21: mandate for promoting the livestock
Page 22 and 23: (6) Limited or no access by livesto
Page 24 and 25: Figure 8. The livestock marketing c
Page 26 and 27: Box 3.A brief overview of the confl
Page 28 and 29: particularly badly hit by the confl
Page 30 and 31: continuing to function relatively u
Page 32 and 33: Box 5.A case study of Tomat, an exp
Page 34 and 35: 34cash, which leaves them vulnerabl
Page 36 and 37: 5. The changing profile of livestoc
Page 38 and 39: years—see section 3.2 above—thi
Page 40 and 41: 6. The costs of trading and access
Page 42 and 43: checkpoints were the number one cos
Page 44 and 45: 7. Livestock production and market
Page 46 and 47: 46Nyala area has increased the supp
Page 50 and 51: 9.Trade in hides and skinsTrade in
Page 52 and 53: 10. Conclusions and recommendations
Page 55 and 56: with a longer-term perspective. For
Page 57 and 58: ACRONYMSABSAMISARBARPCAPECARCBOCBSD
Page 59 and 60: Fahey, D. and D. K. Leonard. 2007.
Page 61 and 62: Annex 1. Research team carrying out
Page 63 and 64: Annex 2. Analysis of trading costs
Page 65 and 66: 5. Trading costs for cattle traded
Page 67 and 68: Further technical information may b

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