Editing Economy of Somalia (section)

==Agriculture==
{{See also|Agriculture in Somalia}}
[[File:Laasqoray30.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Cans of ''Las Qoray'' brand tuna fish made in [[Las Khorey]].]]

[[Agriculture]] is the most important economic sector. It accounts for about 65% of the GDP and employs 65% of the workforce.<ref name="Brcc"/> Livestock contributes about 40% to GDP and more than 50% of export earnings.<ref name=2009factbook/> Other principal exports include [[fish]], [[charcoal]] and [[banana]]s; [[sugar]], [[sorghum]] and [[Maize|corn]] are products for the domestic market.<ref name="CIA2008">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/somalia/|title=Somalia |work=[[The World Factbook]]|publisher= [[Central Intelligence Agency]]|access-date=11 June 2015}}</ref> According to the Central Bank of Somalia, imports of goods total about $460 million per year, and have recovered and even surpassed aggregate imports prior to the start of the civil war in 1991. Exports, which total about $270 million annually, have also surpassed pre-war aggregate export levels but still lead to a trade account deficit of about $190 million US dollars per year. However, this trade deficit is far exceeded by remittances sent by [[Somalis]] in the diaspora, which have helped sustain the import level.<ref name="Cbsef"/>

With the advantage of being located near the [[Arabian Peninsula]], Somali traders have increasingly begun to challenge [[Australia]]'s traditional dominance over the Persian Gulf Arab livestock and meat market, offering quality animals at very low prices. In response, [[Persian Gulf]] Arab states have started to make strategic investments in the region, with [[Saudi Arabia]] building livestock export infrastructure and the [[United Arab Emirates]] purchasing large farmlands.<ref name="Acdasl">{{cite web | url=http://www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk/news/230810/australia___the_gulf_demand_for_australian_sheep_and_lamb.aspx | title=Australia - The Arab countries demand Australian sheep and lamb | work=Meat Trade | date=August 21, 2010 | via=farmonline.com.au | access-date=August 21, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515090635/http://www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk/news/230810/australia___the_gulf_demand_for_australian_sheep_and_lamb.aspx | archive-date=May 15, 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Additionally, [[fishing fleet]]s from [[Europe]] and [[Asia]] have reached [[commercial fishing]] agreements in the northern [[Puntland]] region.<ref name="LeesonSom"/>

With Somalia exporting 3 million sheep in 2012, its [[live exports]] to the Middle East have overtaken [[Australian live export industry|Australian exports]] which numbered 2 million. According to the [[Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics|Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences]], 99% of the country's livestock exports are headed to the Middle East. However, since 2006, there has been a 10% decline "because of increasing competition in export markets from African and eastern European sheep exports".<ref name=FTMEAUSEX>{{cite web|last1=Manson|first1=Katrina|title=Somali meat exports to Saudi Arabia soar|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a5c38622-37db-11e3-8668-00144feab7de.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a5c38622-37db-11e3-8668-00144feab7de.html |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription|website=[[Financial Times]]|access-date=28 June 2015}}</ref> More than 5 million livestock were exported in 2014, the highest amount in 20 years.<ref name="dsfsdfsd">{{cite web | url=http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-04-30-somalia-livestock | title=Where Somalia is king of the world; sheep and goats are working miracles in war-torn country | work=[[MG Africa]] | date=May 3, 2015 | access-date=January 2, 2018 | author=Spooner, Samantha}}</ref> Neighbouring [[Somaliland]] is also home to some of the largest livestock markets, known in Somali as ''seylad'', in the [[Horn of Africa]], with as many as 10,000 heads of sheep and goats sold daily in the markets of [[Burao]] and [[Yirowe]], many of whom shipped to [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf states]] via the [[Port of Berbera|port]] of [[Berbera]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wDweAQAAIAAJ&q=yirowe|title=Regulating the Livestock Economy of Somaliland|date=2002|publisher=Academy for Peace and Development|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Project|first1=War-torn Societies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cTtyAAAAMAAJ&q=yiroowe|title=Rebuilding Somaliland: Issues and Possibilities|last2=Programme|first2=WSP Transition|date=2005|publisher=Red Sea Press|isbn=978-1-56902-228-3|language=en}}</ref> The markets handle livestock from all over the Horn of Africa.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d2EwAQAAIAAJ&q=yiroowe|title=A Self-portrait of Somaliland: Rebuilding from the Ruins|date=1999|publisher=Somaliland Centre for Peace and Development|language=en}}</ref>

[[Frankincense]] and [[myrrh]] are important export products for Somalia.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Modelling the future of ''Boswellia papyrifera'' population and its frankincense production|first1=M.|last1=Lemenih|first2=B.|last2=Arts|first3=K.F.|last3=Wiersum|first4=F.|last4=Bongers|journal=[[Journal of Arid Environments]]|volume=105|year=2014|pages=33–40|doi=10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.02.006|bibcode=2014JArEn.105...33L}}</ref> Along with [[Ethiopia]] and Kenya, Somalia is one of the world's three largest suppliers of these products.<ref>{{cite book|title=Industrial Crops and Uses|editor-first=Bharat P.|editor-last=Singh|chapter=Gums, Resins and Waxes|first1=Enrico|last1=Casadei|first2=Ben|last2=Chikamai|year=2010|location=Wallingford|publisher=CABI|isbn=9781845936167|page=430}}</ref>