Fat-tailed sheep and goats are second to camels and cattle in the internal economy, and these provide milk, ghee, and meat. Donkeys and mules are kept also as beasts of burden, while horses have rapidly become a source of prestige in the society and are used almost exclusively for riding. Durra sorghum is the principal crop in both north and south, with large quantities of maize grown in the south. Additional southern crops are sesame, groundnuts, beans, and cassava. Fruit production has also increased in recent years with bananas becoming the principal commercial crop for export.
Sugarcane also is grown to some extent.
Fishing is important along the coast, but fish are eaten only by the despised coast dwellers, being scorned by the nomadic Somali. Game includes the dik-dik, antelope, giraffe, zebra, gazelle, hippopotamus, elephant, lion, and panther. Bows and arrows, clubs, spears, and traps and snares are employed in hunting, as well as the net in communal game drives. Internal trade, which is carried out by barter, involves the exchange of livestock, produce, gum, ivory, skins, etc., for the grain and cloth of the sedentary cultivators. Caravans laden with goods continually traverse the country bringing produce from the interior to the coast where it is traded for imports from Aden and India.