With drastically smaller hajj, Somalia’s livestock industry goes from ‘boom to doom’

If this were a normal year, nearly 2 million people would have descended on Islam's holiest site in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday evening for the hajj, the annual pilgrimage meant to be carried out at least once in the life of any Muslim who is physically and financially able.

The coronavirus pandemic forced Saudi authorities to limit the hajj to just 1,000 peoplepeople a in the kingdom, crushing the dreams of millions of pilgrims — and those of the livestock breeders, traders and exporters who supply millions of cows, camels, sheep and goats to feed the foreigners who arrive in the desert city each year.

That sudden drop in demand has been devastating for Somalia, where livestock makes up three-quarters of total exports, around 70 percent of which are sent to Saudi Arabia in the months leading up to the hajj.

Somalia’s livestock exports are expected to decline by as much as half this year, according to the World Bank.

“We are extending our hands to Allah, praying to take away the curse,” said Abdi Omar Hashi, 52, a father of eight. He recently loaded hundreds of his animals in trucks and traveled nearly 700 miles with them from central Somalia to the northern port city of Bosaso, where most livestock is exported. “When we got there, no one was buying. We had to bring them back.”

Hashi said he has lost more than $50,000 this year, nearly all of his savings.

The shift has had dire consequences for livelihoods, especially among the poor. Livestock sales account for 60 percent of household income for much of the country’s largely rural population, especially in regions such as Puntland, in the north, which is more arid.