Today we are spending the day at the US AID cattle market which is one of Jennifer's projects. The building of the market was completed in January of 2017 and the first market was held in May. The market is home for locals and brokers to buy and sell goats, sheep, cattle, camels, and donkeys. It is very similar to the Waverly animal swap that we attend a couple times a year. The animals are first brought in through the screen area. Vet inspections are not common here and are only used when requested. With herds roaming it would be hard to keep accurate records. The sellers then gather their animals in a group and wait for a potential buyer. The buyer and the seller make the transaction themselves. Some animals are bought for local consumption and some are bought to be shipped to bigger cities. We received a tour from the project manager and livestock coordinator. Will was able to offer insight on how we do things and we were able to gain insight on how things are done here. There are a lot of similarities since this is a us project.
The cattle are sold per head instead of per pound as we do back home because of the lack of scales. You buy what you see here where we have some sort of records on vaccination back home.
The locals are taking great pride in the market so far which is helping establish a more consistent pricing structure. The women feel safe going to market alone because of security and not having to carry so much cash due to bank on-site.
It was quite an adventure to learn about how our market system is beginning to work in Africa. I am sure it will be am adjustment to the people but hopefully the outcome will be successful.
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