Livestock markets and their role in developing the livestock sector: is there a need for livestock auction markets in Sudan?

Livestock plays an important role in the Sudanese economy and shares almost 50% of the total agricultural exports. Although livestock trade is a prevalent and important economic activity in Sudan, still little attention is given to develop its markets and almost negligible caution is given for increasing livestock number and productivity. Livestock marketing system depends on direct sales and livestock auction markets are not well known in Sudan and their significance is also not well recognised. The paper concluded that, auctions are useful in livestock markets for maintaining quality standards, grades and weight measurement systems in these markets and hence help in setting the right price mechanism which could satisfy the sellers and the buyers as well as meeting the demand of participants. Many steps are required to establish efficient livestock auction markets. The conclusions given by this paper can be used by policy makers as a benchmark for verifying establishment decisions prior to adoption of any livestock auction markets.