On the hoof: Livestock trade in Darfur

Livestock is one of Darfur&rsquo;s main economic assets and makes a major contribution to Sudan&rsquo;s national livestock and meat exports. This report documents how livestock trade in the greater Darfur region has been negatively affected since 2003 by nine years of conflict, contracting in volume and losing competitiveness as trading costs have soared and as the quality of animals brought to the market has deteriorated. <br /><br />Physical market infrastructure has also deteriorated and the region has only one, poorly functioning slaughter-house, although such facilities could play a critical role in stimulating Darfur&rsquo;s livestock trade and in efficiency gains if livestock no longer had to be trekked on the hoof to Omdurman, especially during the dry season. A positive development, however, has been the flourishing trade in hides and skins in Darfur during the conflict years. <br /><br />The report makes a number of recommendations, first,&nbsp; and second, at a policy and strategic level to support the eventual recovery of Darfur&rsquo;s economy and to contribute to the national economy.<br /><br />Recommendations for immediate action to support the livestock trade in the current environment in Darfur include:<br /> improving security is the single most important way of supporting the livestock sector a pilot credit scheme for livestock traders should be designed and implemented feasibility studies should be carried on how the leather industry could be supported; also required is further analysis of the production and trade in livestock products such as milk and yoghurt, both including thorough gender analyses local trade agreements should be investigated further to see if/how they could be built upon as a peacebuilding opportunity research is needed to understand how livestock ownership has shifted in Darfur during the conflict years in order to inform future strategies for rebuilding livestock sector and livestock productionRecommendations for Darfur at a strategic/policy level:&nbsp; a clear strategy for developing the meat industry in Darfur with a longer-term perspective should be developed - including abattoir capacity, processing facilities for by-products, physical infrastructure, effective and reliable cold storage facilities, and improved air transportation facilitiesRecommendations at Federal level: <br /> taxation policies should be reviewed and revised, to facilitate the movement of livestock, to reduce the taxation burden to improve competitiveness and to ensure that revenues are reinvested there is an urgent and pressing need to improve the physical market infrastructure for livestock trading - rehabilitating the water points, upgrading the railway from Nyala to Central Sudan,&nbsp; rehabilitating Darfur&rsquo;s road infrastructure so that livestock improved veterinary services, vaccination centres and inspection longer term access to credit schemes ways of promoting the livestock trade, domestically and internationally, through a streamlined institutional framework at federal level should be explored, drawing on experiences elsewhere in Africa<br /><br /><br /><br />