Sudanese officials have reportedly spoken to U.S. officials about Khartoum’s aspirations to both join the WTO, and export agricultural products to America like livestock products. The World Bank is also pushing Sudan to emphasize its food and livestock exports in the wake of collapsed petroleum prices. The country certainly has the relative resources, sporting a very small share of Africa’s population while concurrently managing large percentages of the continent’s livestock (see graph below). Of course, nothing rouses more opposition than the trade in livestock products. First, it imposes increased competition in generally lower profitability commodities. Second, the risk of transmittable disease increases, though most i...

TAGS – Livestock, Middle East & Africa