Livestock is the backbone of Somaliland’s rural economy. For many households, especially in pastoral and agropastoral regions, selling animals is the primary source of income. But who participates in the market? How much do they earn? And who makes the key decisions inside the household?

To answer these questions, we analyzed survey data from small ruminant producers across three livelihood zones: Hawd Pastoral, Togdheer Agropastoral, and West Golis Pastoral. The goal was to understand market participation, decision-making, and household revenue patterns.

1. What animals are households keeping?

The first visualization compares shoats—sheep and goats—to all other animals (camels, cattle, chickens, and donkeys).
The results are striking:

🟦 Shoats account for over 95% of all animals kept
🟪 All other animals combined barely make up 5%.

This confirms that the livestock economy is overwhelmingly based on small ruminants. Any intervention, pricing policy, or market support should therefore prioritize shoats.