Analysis of Institutional Dynamics and Their Influence on Livestock Export Trade in the Berbera Corridor of Somaliland

Abstract

In the last four decades, Somalia’s economy has evolved from a centralised economy under socialist institutions to a largely stateless and deregulated economy that has attracted interest from scholars. Some scholars have greeted the post-1991 ‘stateless’ economy with optimism and, in the case of livestock trade, used rapid expansion in the volume of livestock exports as an indication of exceptionally performing sector in the absence of formal and state institutions. Over the years, inconsistent insights and accounts on the performance of the economy have been put forward by scholars and practitioners. The divergence in the narratives is largely attributed to a combination of factors such as the unconventional and informal nature of the Somalia/Somaliland economy and lack of systematic studies. With exception of a few cases, debates on post-war stateless economy have been based on anecdotal evidence, generalisations and assumptions about the performance of the economy and, of course, differences in ideological orientations. The foremost purpose of the thesis was to analyse institutions, formal and informal, and their influence on the export livestock trade in the Berbera corridor. Like many other pastoral communities in the Horn of Africa (HoA), livestock is the mainstay of Somalia’s economy. However, unlike many pastoral communities, Somali livestock trade is export oriented. Therefore, knowing that Somalia lacked key state and formal institutions since the breakdown of the central state, it is critical to understand how institutions influence the performance of Somalia’s livestock export trade, and particularly in the Berbera corridor, which is Somalia’s main livestock export route. To empirically investigate livestock trade in the Berbera corridor, the study combined different qualitative and quantitative methods. Different types of interviews (informal, key informant and oral histories) were conducted with over 120 research participants. Those interviewed included former and current livestock traders, exporters, veterinary professionals, policy makers and local officials, brokers, transporters fodder traders and other service providers. The qualitative data focused on past and current formal and informal institutions in the livestock trade, influence of institutional dynamics on the export livestock trade and experiences and expectations of actors in the livestock export trade. In addition, participant observations, stakeholder analysis and focus group discussions were employed for this study.