Who has really damaged the somalis economy?

[North brother]

As has always been the case, and as indicated above, the latest data show that livestock constitutes the backbone of Somalia/Somaliland economy and it accounted for 40% of the country's GDP and nearly 65% of its export earnings in the year 2002, for instance, according to the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates. However, the revenues from this sector of our economy has been greatly hampered by the ban which Saudi Arabia – the biggest market for Somalia's/Somaliland's livestock exports – had imposed on Somali meat because of an alleged animal disease. But the disease that Somali livestock is supposed to have been afflicted with, namely, Rift Valley fever, is a disease that is mainly found in neighboring Kenya and is not known in Somalia/Somaliland. According to some experts who are familiar with the issue have pointed out that the real reason behind this ban, which has dealt a severe blow to the Somali economy and ultimately to the poor Somali nomad whose entire livelihood depends on animal husbandry, is more complex than that. In short, it is said to stem from the lobbying of some prominent Saudi businessmen and wealthy sheiks who have put heavy pressure on their government to prohibit the importation of Somali meat so as to eliminate any competition with the output of their huge animal farms in Australia, Argentina and other countries. Besides, for the past 14 years, Somalia had no functioning national government that could have engaged the Saudi authorities and could have persuaded them to lift this unfair and unnecessary ban of the export of Somali livestock (which, incidentally, is very popular in this country and the rest of the Arabian Gulf region).

In the absence of any industrial or manufacturing activity in the country, most of the economic activities that are presently going on in Somalia/Somaliland center around petty trade, including the sale and consumption of the mild narcotic (or drug) known as qat on a very large scale. (It may be worth noting here that the ordinary citizens of Somalia's/Somaliland's two neighboring countries that produce qat, namely, Ethiopia and Kenya, don't normally chew it; this drug has also been lately causing serious, mysterious health problems to its Somali consumers, like sudden heart-attack, because apparently the farmers of its place of origin, particularly, in Ethiopia, spray unknown, and perhaps very harmful, chemicals on the qat tree so as to make its leaves grow faster and bigger). Other factors that seriously have been constraining the Somali economy is the total destruction of all governmental institutions, the incredible deterioration of the country's basic infrastructure and the large scale "brain-drain" which has been going on in the past 15 years. Virtually all the educated class, the most experienced professionals and state officials, and any decent person (qof xishoonaya). As a result, it is now estimated that 4 out of Somalia/Somaliland population, now estimated at 11 million, live outside their country.

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

So the lesson learned here is, make sure you thoroughly wash your Khat before you start you daily chew.

[North brother]

So the lesson learned here is, make sure you thoroughly wash your Khat before you start you daily chew.[quote]

Waryaa its not just the wasting of money on khat instead of feeding the family its the livestock ban that regime in saudi arabia that royal family, especially to somaliland to use it as a political tool, they are not helping their fellow muslims while kufaars like the UN are more generous than them.

[Newboy]

aniga