SHEIKH TECHNICAL VETERINARY SCHOOL (STVS)

Burao Fieldwork report

Period from 4th - 7th July 2010

Student Name: Abdirahman Mohamed Muse

Registration No: 0095

Date of submission: 17th July 2010

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Declaration

I, Abdurrahman Mohamed Muse declare here that the data presented here is my original work and
does not appear anywhere else.

Student name: ………………………………………………………….

Signature……………………………………………………………….

Supervisor name: ………………………………………………

Signature ………………………………… Date: ……………………..

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Acknowledgements

All praise is to Allah who bestowed the health and strength to utilize this opportunity and to apply
my theory in the field, and also thanks to Burao community for their collaboration and their
support.
I also thanks to my parents for their prayers and their encouragements to learn and educate myself.
I am also give thanks to STVS administration and tutors who are mentioned below:

Dr. Nuuh Haaji Abdi

Dr. Abdiqaadir Khaliif
Dr. Abdullahi Sheikh
Dr. Ibraahim Osman
Mr. Mohamed Abdulatif
Mr.Tindhih Shelton Heshbone
Mr. Joel Owani
Ms Jocelynn

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents Page number
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION…………………………………..1

1.1. Introduction of the fieldwork………………………………………….1

1.2 Background of the Study Area…………………………………………1

CHAPTER TWO: AIM, OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY…........2

2.1. Aim………………………………………………………………………2
2.2. Objective…………………………………………………………………2
2.2. Objective…………………………………………………………………2
2.4. Materials………………………………………………………………....2

CHAPTER THREE: ACTIVITIES………………………………………..3

3.1. Burao livestock market …………………………………………………..3

3.1.1. Facilities and main features of livestock market………………………..3
3.1.2. Prices of animal in livestock market……………………………............4
3.1.3. Market agents and actors………………………………………………..4
3.1.4 Role of municipality in the livestock market…………………………….4
3.1.5 Role of veterinarians in livestock market ……………………………….5
3.1.6. Constraint of livestock market…………………………………………..5
3.2. Burao milk market ………………………………………………………..6
3.2.1. Milk price in the market ………………………………………………..6
3.2.2. Constraints of milk market……………………………………………...6
3.3. Maandeeq Camel Dairy Farm…………………………………………….7
3.4. Alla magan Traditional Tannery………………………………………….7
3.4.1. Procedure of skin processing ……………………………………….…..8
3.4.2. Constraints of Allah magan traditional tannery………………………....8
3.5. Burao traditional slaughter house………………………………………....8
3.5.1. Role of municipality in slaughter house………………………………...8
3.5.2. Postmortem inspection in slaughter house……………………………...8
3.5.3. Constraints slaughter house……………………………………………..9
3.6. Burao Holding Grounds (International Livestock Company)…………….9
3.6.1. Facilities of the holding grounds ……………………………………….10
3.6.2 Objective of establishment of holding grounds …………………………10
3.6.3Experience/skills acquired………………………………………………..10

CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION..........11

4.7.1Conclusion……………………………………………………………….11
4.7.2Recommendations………………………………………………………..11
References……………………………………………………………………..11
Annex………………………………………………………………………….12

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Introduction of the fieldwork
STVS first year students are usually given the opportunity to go to field at the end of second
semester to practice what they have learnt in class for the last 2 semesters. The first year students
are usually sent to Burao which is usually close to STVS and has different activities going on. This
year the student had the opportunity to see different activities for the four days fieldwork. During
the fieldwork the students visited various facilities that do work related to the livestock and are
relevant to the courses the students are pursuing. The area visited include; - Livestock market, milk
market, traditional slaughterhouse, new Burao holding grounds (International Livestock company),
Maandeeq camel dairy farm and traditional tanneries, among others. The main purpose of the
fieldwork is to expose the students to the various activities going on in the field so as to practice
what they have learnt in the class for the last 2 semesters and to interact with the various
stakeholders of the livestock sector. After the end of the report the students are required to write a
report on the fieldwork. The tutors were divided into 2 groups comprising of 17 and 16 students.
1.2 Background of the Study Area
Burao is the center of Togdheer region and it is the second city of Somaliland, it is popular with
livestock and it has several functioning institutions and factories.
Its population is estimated to be 300,000-350,000 also its temperature varies according to seasons
but it is usually between 25°C to 30°C

Study area

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 CHAPTER TWO: AIM, OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY
2.1. Aim
The main purpose of the fieldwork is to expose the students to the various activities going on in the
field so as to practice what they have learnt in the class
2.2. Objective
At the end of the fieldwork, the following objectives should be attained. The objectives include;-
1. To develop and strengthen the previous skills and possibly acquire further skills from the
field
2. To observe the various facilities and interact with different stakeholders
3. To enhance and develop communication skills, and,
4. To analyze, and write report on the data collected

2.3. Methodology
The methodologies used during the field work are the following:
A. Observation: Through observation information like activities going on, infrastructure,
various facilities were collected
B. Interview: Interviewing different market actors and all individuals who involves all
visited are
C. Postmortem examination: Examination of organs and collection all abnormalities found.

2.4. Materials
Various materials were utilized during the field so as to facilitate data collection. The materials
used include;-
- Postmortem kit
- Protective equipments (aprons, gloves, rubber boots
- Disinfectants
- Digital Camera
- Notebooks and pens

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CHAPTER THREE: ACTIVITIES
3.1. Burao livestock market
Burao livestock market was established in 1955 and it is located at west side of Burao district. The
Market has an area about 2km² and it is the largest livestock market in Somaliland.
The livestock market operates from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm daily
This market is where the exchange of livestock and cash take place as well as where the producer,
broker, and trader meet.
In the livestock market there were a considerable numbers of animals, majority of them were sheep
and goats, their body condition were good and moderate.
The animals were gathered in groups according to the owners before they are sold Comment [T1]:

Both animal and people were in stressful condition because they were exposed to the sun
Sheep and goats play an important role in the market being the most preferable and exported from
Berbera port. Countries that mostly import Somali livestock are Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and UAE
Camels are not sold in the main market but they are sold in a flat area away from market about
1km. there are also small number of camel exported from Berbera port.
Cattle are neither found in the market nor consumed locally in Burao district because cattle are
rarely found in Togdheer region since it can’t survive in the harsh climate of the region.
3.1.1. Facilities and main features of livestock market
The Market has four rooms one for the local government market office which is used for taxation,
the other one is for veterinarians to store their equipments and drugs to provide services in the
market when diseased animal are brought to the market.
The other two rooms are for the security staffs to hold people whenever there is a dispute among
people in the market before they are transferred to the police station and also for conflict
resolution. But only the municipal office operates fully.
Apart from the offices there were also some other important facilities in the market, below are
some of them,
 Pens: Are used to rest the animal after the traders buy from the producer and feeding them
before the transportation to Berbera port for export purpose. They are usually private
owned.
 Ramps : There are 8 ramps in the market used for loading and unloading the animal from
and to the truck when brought to the market and when transporting to Berbera port

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  Disposal tank: is used to store rubbish to keep the area clean and it has been brought by
the municipality. It was however not used properly as there were dirts flying around the
disposal tank.
 Restaurants: This is where soft food and drinks are made available for the market
attendants
 Taxes/buses: Used to transport people form and to the market
 Money exchanger: Facilitates the exchange of money for the various market actors
3.1.2. Prices of animal in livestock market
Prices of the animals in the market vary according to the demand, supply, season and body
condition of the animal. Animal demand is higher during Iddul-fitri (after ramadan) and Iddul
Adha (Hajj) due to the religious event and is low during the drought period due to lack of water
and forage, poor body condition and low demand and supply
Price of goats and sheep is $40 to $45 and camel is $600 to $750, cattle are not available in the
market.
3.1.3. Market agents and actors
There are several actors that are involved in the market activities at different levels and each one
has his own role in the market, and they are;-
 Producers: Mainly pastoral who bring their animals to the market to sell, producers
who are far from the market transport their animals by trucks and the ones that are near
the market trek their animals
 Brokers: They mediate between producers and traders or local butchers, they also
facilitate the activities in livestock market, plays a big role in price negotiation
 Traders: In general traders consist of local and export traders, the local ones sell their
animals within the country while the export ones export the animals
 Butcher: Buy the animals to be slaughtered in the traditional slaughterhouse for local
consumption
3.1.4 Role of municipality in the livestock market
 Collect taxes
 Maintaining hygiene

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Species Taxation
Camel $0.2
Goat $0.1
Sheep $0.1
Cattle $0.2

Table 1: taxation of animals

3.1.5 Role of veterinarians in livestock market
 Animal inspection
 Treating the animal
 Condemn if the animal is pregnant or had any clinical signs
3.1.6. Constraint of livestock market
 Poor and inadequate shelter
 Poor veterinary services
 Poor hygiene
 Lack of organization of the market activities

Figure 1. Burao livestock market chart

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3.2. Buroa milk market
Milk market located at the center of Burao town and it receives milk from Burao district and its
surrounding villages including Wagar, Suuqsade, Calishahl, and Qoyta
Milk supply reaches its highest peak during rainy/green season and is low during drought season
due to lack sufficient forage for the animal so the animals are moved a way from the town to look
for pasture and water.
Since the milk source is away from some distance to Burao the only means for milk supply is by
trucks and it takes time to supply milk to the market so that milk market operates from 9:00 am to
3:00 pm
Most of milk supplied in the market is goat milk and camel milk but cattle milk is very rare
because Buroa region is not common for rearing the cattle so that the only source of cattle milk is
Suuqsade which is 60 km away from Buroa.
Milk containers are mostly plastic or Jerican in which the buyers and sellers use it again and again
which may accelerate milk change rapidly

3.2.1. Milk price in the market

Milk prices and its supply are seasonal dependent; the price of milk is lower during green/rainy
season and higher in dry season and also its supply is higher during rainy/green because of rainy
season animal fed well thus producing plenty of milk and also majority of producers come close to
the town making its transportation easier.
Camel and goat milk price is $1.6 per a litre and cattle milk price is $1.8 a litre
3.2.2. Constraints of milk market
 Poor hygiene
 Poor shelter
 Poor transportation
 Poor government support
 Contaminated milk containers
 No market of its own, thus milk is sold with other commodities

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3.3. Maandeeq Camel Dairy Farm
Maandeeq camel dairy farm locates western part of Buroa city covering an area estimated to be
100 hector, it was established in 2004.
Initially it was planned to rear camel in modern production system, about 150 camel were there
and also milk was exported out of the country once every three day
Currently there were only 8 camel two of them are male, three of them are calves and three of
them are lactating camel. The rest of the camel was moved away due to insufficient forage and
grass and will return back to the farm during the rainy/green season when the forage and grass
are available.
The three lactating camel produce 36 liters per day and are sold and consumed in Burao city
Farm divides in to two zones one zone is for mineral Water Company (Xareeda mineral water).
This company came into consideration after camel dairy project failed. It produces packaged
water used by locally in whole Somaliland regions.
The other zone belongs to the farm within the farm there is pen which is used to shelter camel
during the night and protect them from coldness when weather is cold.
The pen consists of four zones, two of them are for adults and the two remaining are for calves.
There is space at the walls of the pen which is used for camel to take fresh air.
The structure was planned for employees of the farm, who had specific function which
includes: - Manager, foreman, camel herders and camel milkers
3.4. Alla magan Traditional Tannery
ALLMAGAN traditional tannery is private traditional tannery which was established in 2003,
it is located western part of Burao district, this traditional tannery receives skin from the Burao
traditional slaughter house and the surrounding villages.
Several factors are put into consideration when buying skin, such as, skinning process, external
appearance of the skin and also hair coat.
Skin has grade A and grade B and their price differ from one to another for example if there is
damage on the surface of skin the price will be lower than that without damage
The most preferable and mostly exported skin is that of small ruminants (sheep and goats) but
camel is used locally. Cattle is absent from the tannery and it’s very rare
The price camel skin is $1 while sheep and goat is $0.8.The number camel skin processed per
day is 10 and 50 for sheep and goats.

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3.4.1. Procedure of skin processing
First tannery receives fresh skin from Burao town and the surrounding villages. The following
procedures are then followed.
 Salting and drying for sheep and goat to be exported, but the process continues for
camel skin
 Soaking with water, calcium carbonate and sodium sulphide a period of six days to
make skin softer and also remove the hair easily
 Preservation with water, acid, and chromium for a period of six days
 Drying and exposing to the sun for one day (camel and cattle are used locally)
3.4.2. Constraints of Allah magan traditional tannery
 Inadequate protective cloths such as gloves and boots
 Workers met difficulties of skin collection from various places
3.5. Burao traditional slaughter house
The Traditional slaughter house is located at the eastern part of Burao city and it covers
An area estimated to be 500m2
Slaughter house has two sections; one section is used for slaughtering sheep and goat
The other section is used for slaughtering camel. The section for the camel is open and elevated
for 2meters from the ground
Slaughterhouse contains facilities include: - main slaughterhouse, three water tanks, two offices
for the local government, four toilets, and drainage. The number of sheep and goats slaughtered
per night are 100-120 and number of camel were 8-10 but increases at Fridays because people
consumes more meat during Fridays
3.5.1. Role of municipality in slaughter house
 Maintaining hygiene
 Taxes collection
 Maintaining the security of the slaughterhouse
3.5.2. Postmortem inspection in slaughter house
During the inspection students examined different species of animal including sheep, goat, and
camel using different techniques including: observation, palpation and cut-section.
Majority of animal inspected were female which locally knows daabax and is consumed locally

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Species No. of animal Infected organs Abnormalities
Sheep 3 fore stomach Plastic bags,
Sheep 1 Intestine Torsion
Sheep 6 Liver Fatty degeneration
Goat 4 Liver Focal necrosis
Goat 3 Fore stomach Plastic bags, stone
Goat 2 Intestine Swollen, hemorrhage
Camel 1 Intestine Swollen and reddened
of payers patch
Table 2: This table shows findings in slaughter house
3.5.3. Constraints slaughter house
 Lack of electricity
 Poor hygiene
 Lack of protective clothes
3.6. Burao Holding Grounds (International Livestock Company)
The construction of Burao holding grounds was initiated in October 2009 and still going on. It is
located in western side of Burao district near by Kabadeer which is 8 kms away from Burao city, it
covers an area of 360 hector and it is privately owned. But only 85 hectors are under construction
currently.
It composed of two zones, one is for quarantine and other is free zone, the quarantine zone is
designed to be the first zone in which all new animals pass through, this is where inspection,
testing and possibly vaccination is done, before the animals are moved to the free zone. Free zone
is designed to be the shelter of healthy animals and it is here where the animals are fed with
mashed feed and water. The reason for the development of the holding ground is to fatten export
bound animals so that they fetch good price at the export market. The animals to be kept in this
facility are sheep, goats, cattle and camel. Each species has specifically designed pens.
The potential source of livestock will be from all over the Somali eco- system

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3.6.1. Facilities of the holding grounds
The facilities include;-
Laboratory, large holding grounds with shades, forage storage, water tanks, big machines for
electricity supply, specially designed feeding, crush, borehole, machine for crushing grass, tubes
for water, and toilets, farms for growing grass.
3.6.2 Objective of establishment of holding grounds
 To increase the quality of Somali livestock by fattening
 To increase and enhance the weight of livestock
 Production of milk and meat
 To practice modern production systems
 To get international certification by creating disease free zone

3.6.3Experience/skills acquired
On a positive note, it can be confidently said that the objectives of the fieldwork was attained.
Different experience have been acquired in the process of the field, the most important are skills of
data collection, interpretation and most importantly improved in communication skills. Different
stakeholders were interviewed and I particularly learnt not to ask sensitive questions. Since this is
my first report, hence a good opportunity in leaning how to write scientific report. I also had the
opportunity to see how different actors in the livestock market interact, especially in the selling
and buying of livestock. Different ways of skin processing and factors to be considered was also
learnt. I now know how important animal skins are.
In the slaughterhouse I applied steps of general clinical examination which are history taking,
visual appraisal, and physical examination.
In new Burao holding grounds I obtained information on ways of modern production systems.

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CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
4.1. Conclusion
Field was generally successful and almost achieved the intended objectives and students improved
their knowledge and practical skills. There were no major problems encountered during the
fieldwork.
However, there were some concerns. For instance, majority of people were complaining about lack
of feedback by saying that the visitors from STVS always come to the stakeholders, take
information but no feedback. Therefore they were asking whether the problems they are facing
could be improved by the policy makers of the livestock sector.
Majority of producers were complaining about enclosure of public land by individuals and plastic
bags. There was no electricity in the slaughter house, and also there was no shelter in milk market.
Skin processing factories were complaining about competition. Slaughterhouse workers are non-
skilled. Producers were complaining about lack of veterinary services as well as drugs. During
fieldwork some of visited places were not functioning or little activities was going on.
Moreover, I feel the time allocated for the fieldwork was not enough to visit all the facilities that
are of relevant to our syllabus.
4.2. Recommendations
The report would not be complete without giving suggestions on the concerns met in the field so
that future improvements are made to the various constraints mentioned in the report. Key among
the recommendations made are as follows; -
 electricity should be made available by whatever means to the Burao slaughterhouse
 The workers in the slaughterhouse should be given sufficient training on the ways of
slaughtering and keeping the hygiene of the meat
 Government should support and provide shelter for the milk market
 Government should control plastic bags and orient community to burn plastic bags
 Government should create legislation on the illegal enclosures
 Government should support financially and provide technical knowhow to the
international livestock company
 People interviewed should receive feedback

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 References:
 Tutor’s handout
 Information liberated from interviewing

Annex1

Livestock market Traditional tannery

Milk market holding grounds

ANNEXES 2
Questionnaire Form

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The questionnaire of livestock Market

1- How do you evaluate the animal buying and selling?

................................................................................................................... ..
2- What are the main aspects you consider during buying and selling?
..........................................................................................................................
3- How do the market agents and market actors work together?
..........................................................................................................................

4- Where do you get the animal that you supply?

..........................................................................................................................
5- Do you take the producer directly or you take from middle traders?
..........................................................................................................................
Questionnaires of slaughter house

1. When was the slaughter house established?

…………………………………………………………………………………….
2. How many meters does the building of the slaughter house occupy?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
3. Who established the slaughter house?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
4. How many people operate in slaughter house?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
5. When does the slaughtering starts?
…………………………………………………………………………………….

The questionnaire of Tannery

1.When was the tannery established?

…………………………………………………………………………………….
2.What is the aim which this factory was established?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
3.Who took part in the establishment of the factory?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
4.Where do you mainly get the skin you process?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
5.Which skin species do you process mostly?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
6.Is there any standard age of skin you prefer?

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