Somali

Somali region sustains one of the world's largest pastoral economies, where 8 million Ethiopians from the Afar, Somali, Guji, and Borana ethnic groups herd camels, cattle, sheep, and goats across lowlands that cover 61% of the country. Ethiopia is Africa's top livestock exporter, with livestock contributing over 5% of GDP. Up to 60% of small stock at Berbera port in Somaliland originates from Ethiopian Somali herds, though informal trade—accounting for 75% of foreign livestock commerce—costs legitimate traders $180-360 million annually.

The region demonstrates how pastoral systems create economic value through mobility rather than fixed production. Traditional herding sustained over 80% of the Somali population for centuries, yielding ecosystem services like biodiversity maintenance through controlled grazing. But recent decades have seen gradual shifts toward settled agriculture in zones like Jigjiga and Shinile, driven by drought, livestock disease, trade bans by Gulf states, and government policies promoting sedentarization.

Somali region faces the tension between traditional pastoral livelihoods and modern state-building. The Ethiopian government advocates rural sedentarization as a long-term option, fundamentally challenging a way of life organized around seasonal migration. Recent droughts have intensified questions about pastoralism's sustainability, yet the region's cattle, goats, and camels remain Ethiopia's primary livestock export to Gulf markets and generate foreign exchange that the highland-focused economy increasingly needs.