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ABSTRACT
This article argues that brokers are key actors in the cross-border livestock trade between Kenya and Somalia, where formal regulations are weak or absent. We elucidate the economic and social rationales for livestock brokerage as well as a series of brokering practices taking place at the intersection of profit making, kinship and trust. Besides producing social capital based on trust, brokers facilitate the formalization of livestock trading by linking livestock production sites in southern Somalia to consumer markets in Kenya. Brokers thereby take on various roles and functions that contribute to integrating markets across fragmented territories. Based on extended fieldwork conducted in and around Garissa livestock market as well as in Nairobi, the paper outlines the political economy of livestock intermediaries in the important Somali-Kenyan cross-border livestock trade.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Dilaal is an Arabic word meaning ‘a go between’ (see Mahmoud, “Risky Trade, Resilient Traders”). To understand the role of dilaal in livestock trading in East Africa see Little, “Traders, Brokers and Market Crisis”, for West Africa see Hill, “Landlords and Brokers”. In Swahili a broker is an intermediary in business deals. We do not use the word ‘middleman’ as food insecurity, civil conflict, and destitution have gradually increased women’s involvement in brokerage.
2 Mahmoud, “Risky Trade, Resilient Traders,” 571.
3 Golub and Mbaye, “National Trade Policies,” 597.
4 Gallien, “Informal institutions.”
5 Gereffi et al., “The governance of global value chains,” 78–104.
6 Powell et al., “Somalia after state collapse,” 3.
7 Hagmann and Stepputat, Corridors of trade and power, 19.
8 See Little et al., “When deserts flood,” 152.
9 Irungu et al., “An audit of constraints,” 111.
10 Burt, “Structural Holes and Good Ideas,” 350–358.
11 Ibid., 351.
12 Data collection consisted of direct observations, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions. Forty-six interviews, seven focus group discussions with traders, trekkers, and brokers, and participatory observations were conducted.
13 James, “The return of the broker,” 320.
14 Meehan and Plonsky, Brokering the Margins, 29.
15 Koster and Leynseele, Brokers as Assemblers, 804.
16 James, The Return of the Broker, 335.
17 Meehan and Plonski, Brokering the Margins, 33.
18 Golub, “Informal Cross Border Trade,” 179.
19 Benjamin et al., “Informality, Trade Policies,” 382–389.
20 Golub, “Entrepot Trade,” 1147–1154.
21 Hill, “Landlords and Brokers,” 363.
22 Little, “Traders, Brokers,” 110.
23 Walther, “Trade Networks in West Africa,” 191.
24 Hashim and Meagher, “Cross-Border Trade,” 33.
25 Teka and Azeze, Cross-Border Livestock Trade, 11.
26 Raeymaekers, “The Power of Protection,” 136.
27 Titeca, “The Changing Cross-Border Trade,” 1.
28 Bakonyi and Stuvøy, “Violence & Social Order,” 365.
29 Carrier and Elliott, Entrust We Must, 6. See also Kim and Aldrich, “Social Capital and Entrepreneurship,” 25.
30 Biggart, Readings in Economic Sociology, 69–93.
31 Mubarak, “The ‘Hidden Hand’,” 2029.
32 Titeca and Herdt, “Regulation, Cross-Border Trade,” 579.
33 Meagher, “Smuggling Ideologies,” 504.
34 Clements et al., “State Building Reconsidered,” 52.
35 See Gibbon and Ponte, Trading Down, 81.
36 See Burt, “The Network Structure of Social Capital,” 353.
37 Lesser and Moise-Leeman, Informal Cross-Border Trade, 23.
38 Little, “Unofficial Trade,” 14.
39 See Aklilu, “An Audit of the Livestock Marketing,” 60.
40 Carrier, Little Mogadishu, 57.
41 Barrett et al., “Livestock Pricing,” 136.
42 Gebresenbet, Perishable State-Making, 14.
43 Teka, Azeze and Gebremariam, Cross-Border Livestock Trade, 41.
44 Menkhaus, “Governance without Government,” 77.
45 Little, “Unofficial Trade,” 19.
46 Anderson and McKnight, “Kenya at War,” 16.
47 Little et al., “Formal or Informal,” 406.
48 KNBS 2019, Kenya Population and Housing Censors Result.
49 Interview, Livestock Extension Officer, County Department of Livestock, 27 January 2018.
50 Whittaker, “Frontier Security,” 385.
51 Whittaker, “The Socioeconomic Dynamics,” 392.
52 Gundel, “Clans in Somalia,” 11.
53 Mahmoud, “Livestock Trade,” 1.
54 Adano et al., “Climate Change, Violent Conflict,” 66.
55 Gundel, “Clans in Somalia,” 12.
56 Lewis, A Modern History, 185.
57 Carrier and Lochery, “Missing States?,” 341.
58 Little, “Somalia: Economy Without State,” 2.
59 Ahmed and Green, “The Heritage of War,” 120.
60 Umar and Baulch, “Risk Taking for a Living,” 18.
61 Whittaker, “Legacies of Empire,” 642.
62 Anderson, “Remembering Wagalla,” 660.
63 Lind et al., “Killing a Mosquito with a Hammer,” 123.
64 Anderson and McKnight, “Understanding al-Shabaab,” 544.
65 Murunga, “Conflict in Somalia,” 147.
66 Abdulsamed, “Somali Investment in Kenya,” 8.
67 Carrier, Little Mogadishu, 77–79.
68 Negassa et al., Towards Improving Livestock, 10.
69 Mosley and Watson, “Frontier Transformations,” 14.
70 Browne, “LAPSSET,” 76.
71 Ibid., 43.
72 D’Arcy and Cornell, “Devolution and Corruption in Kenya,” 264.
73 Interview, senior state officer from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Garissa, 22 July 2017.
74 International Crisis Group, “Kenya’s Coast,” 5.
75 Anderson and McKnight, “Kenya at War,” 15.
76 Interview, senior livestock broker, Garissa, 24 July 2017.
77 Hope, “Engaging the Youth in Kenya,” 232.
78 Negassa et al., Towards Improving Livestock, 42.
79 Focus group discussion, eight elderly livestock traders, Garissa market, 21 January 2018.
80 Camel prices reach US$800–900 (Kshs. 80,000–90,000) per head around Isiolo and Garissa, 30% higher compared to borderland prices.
81 Focus group discussion, six livestock brokers, Garissa market, 10 May 2018.
82 Interview, senior trader and former broker, Garissa livestock market, 5 March 2018.
83 Focus group discussion with eight livestock traders, Garissa, 21 January 2018.
84 Interview, senior livestock broker, Garissa, 23 April 2018.
85 Interview, a broker, Garissa livestock market, 28 June 2018.
86 Interview, elderly livestock trader, Garissa, 6 May 2018.
87 Focus group discussion, livestock brokers and traders, Garissa, 15 February 2019.
88 Interview, veterinary officer, Ministry of Agriculture, livestock and Fisheries, Garissa County, 24 April 2017.
89 Interview, livestock broker, Garissa, 30 April 2018.
90 Ethnographic observation, Garissa livestock market, July 2018; Interview, livestock extension officer, Garissa, 15 July 2018.
91 Interview, lorry and livestock broker, Garissa, 9 May 2018..
92 Interview, university student, Garissa, 25 February 2019.
93 Interview, livestock broker, Garissa, 13 April 2018.
94 Focus group discussion, female brokers, Garissa, 27 May 2019.
95 Majid, “Livelihoods, Development and the Somali Diaspora,” 211.
96 Interview, Head of Kenya Livestock Marketing Council, Garissa, 19 February 2019.
97 Interview, truck broker, Garissa, 7 May 2018.
98 Focus group discussion, livestock brokers, Garissa, 12 May 2018.
99 Interview, truck driver, Garissa, 2 June 2018.
100 Participatory observation, Garissa livestock market, January-July 2018.
101 Interview with livestock broker, Garissa livestock market, 25 April 2018.
102 Interview, livestock broker, Garissa, 13 April 2018.
103 Interview with veterinary officer, Department of Livestock, Garissa county government, 7 February 2018.
104 Focus group discussion with nine trekkers, Garissa livestock market, 14 May 2018.
105 Interview with International Livestock Research Institute coordinator, Garissa County, 25 July 2017.
106 Interview, a broker and a former trader from Hulugho border market, Garissa, 28 April 2017.
107 Focus group discussion with five livestock brokers, Garissa, 12 May 2018.
108 Focus group discussion with six livestock brokers, Garissa market, 10 May 2018.
109 Interview, senior livestock broker and traders, Garissa, 5 June 2018.
110 Focus group discussion, female livestock traders and brokers, Garissa, 29 May 2019.
111 Interview, a senior broker and trader, Garissa, 26 April 2017.
112 Interview, goat broker, Garissa Government Guest House, 19 April 2019.
113 Interview, a broker, Garissa market, 25 July 2017.
114 Pavanello, Livestock Marketing, 18.
115 Focus group discussion, livestock trekkers, Garissa livestock market, 14 May 2018.
116 Informal discussion, livestock brokers and traders, Garissa market, 15 February 2019.
117 Interview with senior livestock trader and broker, Garissa, 21 March 2018.
118 Little et al., “Formal or Informal,” 407.
119 Interview with senior livestock trader and broker, Garissa, 21 March 2018.
120 Interview, a broker, Garissa livestock market, 24 April 2017.
121 Mubarak, “The ‘Hidden Hand’,” 2030.
122 Musa, From Trust to Oligopoly, 27.
123 Meehan and Plonski, Brokering the Margins, 2.
124 Ibid., 29.