Mapping cattle trade routes in southern Somalia: a method for mobile livestock keeping systems

The Somali economy is the only one in the world in which more than half the population is dependent on nomadic pastoralism. Trade typically involves drovers trekking animals over long distances to markets. A pilot approach for mapping trade routes was undertaken, using the Afmadow to Garissa routes in southern Somalia. The methodology included conducting a workshop with traders to gather preliminary information about the most-used routes and general husbandry practices and training selected drovers to collect data about key features along the routes, using hand-held global positioning system (GPS) devices, radio collar GPS and pictorial data forms. Collected data were then integrated into geographic information systems for analysis. The resultant spatial maps describe the Afmadow to Garissa routes, the speed of livestock movement along these routes and relevant environmental and social features affecting this speed. These data are useful for identifying critical control points for health screening along the routes, which may enable the establishment of a livestock certification system in nomadic pastoral environments.