Category: Camel in Middle East and Africa

General information and news about camel in Middle East and Africa

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Camel in Middle East and Africa Camel milk demand in Africa Disease and Drought Tolerance in camels General about camel

Camel Breeds in Africa

SRE, Ethiopian breed

  • Hoor or Hur breed is good for milk (7–10 liter/day)
  • Ayden breed (multi-purpose breed)
  • Gheelab (riding, transportation, and work)
  • Agawayn is good for milk 4 to 7 kg/day (longer lactation)
  • Layro (multi-purpose breed with a milk average of 2-4 kg per day

More than 90% of camels are in the pastoral system and the rest the semi-intensive (mainly for milk in the peri-urban regions).

Drought and Disease Tolerance Score (DDTS)

I have worked with traditional livestock breeds in different parts of the world, especially the livestock cradle (Balochistan province of Pakistan). Have documented native livestock breeds based on their qualitative traits such as drought & disease tolerance (DDT), drought & disease tolerance compensatory ability score (DDCS), consumer demand, liveability/survivability, adaptability, mothering ability, etc. The most important and practical qualitative traits are given a score (1-5) as 1 is the lowest/weakest and 5 is the highest/strongest.

Mauritanian camels

There are two “breeds” (?), rather varieties as nobody has studied them: those in the East, where there is some vegetation, and they are tall and heavier than those in the West where the land is more arid and salty. Here they are short and light. People here say that those camels in the East eat too much and need a lot of water, while the Western camels are much more thrifty. Even so, the commercial milk sellers buy camels from the East and feed them and water them here, either together with their small camels if they are camel-owning families, or on their own if they are just business people.

In extensive conditions, nobody knows how much milk the camels yield, since practically all the milk is left for the calf, and growing calves to sell is more important than drinking milk, particularly when there is no alternative feed. In the intensive milking-for-selling conditions close to towns, the camels that get pasture plus feed and enough water yield an average of 3 liters per 24 hours In our experience; It is very hard to get information from herders because they are afraid of the evil eye. That said, some camels yield much more than that, and in Nouakchott, they are milked three times a day and gove more. When asked how much milk a camel can actually yield (an abstract, theoretical question) they all know camels that can give 10 to 12 liters a day.

Sudani camel breeds

As a country, Sudan has reported the largest camel breeds in Africa.

Jenani, Rashaidi, Anaf, Bishari, Butana, Kabbashi, Mananish

Here is a link to an article; https://www.lrrd.cipav.org.co/lrrd23/4/isha23099.htm

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Camel in Middle East and Africa camel milk Camel milk demand in Africa

Higher Demand for Milk is a driver of Sustainability

The author is taking camel milk in Jigjiga Ethiopia
The author is taking camel milk in Jigjiga Ethiopia

A case study from the Somali Region of Ethiopia

I always tried to spend my time with the camels’ related explorations and research work. This year (2023) I visited 2 important camel communities;

  • 1. Dhofari camels in Salalah Oman
  • 2. Somali camel community in the Somali Region of Ethiopia (Jigjiga)

Here is my take on the case study in Ethiopia

I visited 2 farms (semi-intensive camel dairies) and many mobile camel herds in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The camels are very healthy, active, and kept at a very high level of well-being. The pastoralists and the emerging camel dairy herders are keeping camels in a very good state of situation. The camels have the freedom of roaming and grazing on natural pastures. They consume diverse types of flora, some flora are rich in nutrients for camels, some act as medicine keeping animals healthy, and some flora have higher transferability from healthy promising nutrients from the camel to the consumers through camel products, esp milk.

camel consuming thorny cactuses in Somali Region of Ethiopia
Camels are consuming thorny cactuses in the Somali Region of Ethiopia

1. Higher demand for camel milk

There is a high demand for camel milk in the Somali region of Ethiopia, the same is the phenomenon in most parts of East, Central, and West Africa. The camel herders attain very reasonable prices for camel milk. The price per kg is 3 USD in the Somali Region of Ethiopia (SRE). The camel milk is provided to those customers who have already registered for camel milk. The milk quality is very good, coming from naturally grazing camels. The surroundings of the camel farms are very clean naturally and rich with a lot of diverse vegetation and trees. No flies, ticks, or other problems in the near surroundings were noticed. I shot many videos and images and documented a lot of facts about camel dairying in SRE.

2. Camel milk taste is driven by what they eat (sweet milk)

As for the flavor, unlike in cows, it is 100% dependent on what camels are eating. We can tell the difference between milk from camels feeding on dunes or on sebkhas (salty flats) near the sea, just a mile apart. With salty browsing, the milk leaves a pleasant salty taste on one’s lips, but from euphorbias on the dunes, it is much sweeter. When camels eat particular trees like Acacia (locally called Askaf)  herders say the milk is incredibly healthy, and they love the taste, but in fact, it is a bit bitter and (to me) slightly unpleasant but the shrub grows in a particular environment and may well be as healthy as they say. Camel lactose is different from cow’s, having a different molecular structure which doesn’t cause any lactose intolerance issue. I found the strange fact that the camel milk was sweeter like honey.

Camel Milk or Honey?
Camel are consuming cacti and other highly adapted native flora

3. Bottling of raw milk

It is interesting that the milk is poured directly into bottles after milking, without even filtering (e.g. through a cloth). I thought a lot about asking the camel dairy entrepreneur to filter the milk after milking but decided that the cloth would not be washed or not washed well enough, so it would be more dangerous than just delivering the milk with all the dirt in inevitably in a rural desert setting it contains sand, hair, cells, insects, dust, etc. Another factor is that consumers in that sort of setting have nice strong immune systems, so there is less risk. Also, there is no H&S inspection to require any sanitary standards. I think it is optimistic to believe that there are no pathogens or insects involved, but the operation looks nicely thought out and done. Here is the link to a video about the bottling of camel milk in SRE.

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Camel Breed Camel in Middle East and Africa camel milk Camel Milk and Natural Health Camel milk demand in Africa

Camel Milk or Honey?

A herd of lactating camels grazing on cactus plants in Jigjiga
A herd of lactating camels grazing on cactus plants in Jigjiga

I visited camel pastoralists in the Somali Region of Ethiopia (SRE), mainly Jigjiga and found very interesting and new facts about camels and pastoralism.

Author is happily accepting the camel milk to drink, fresh and sweet like honey.
A Hur lactating camel in Jigjiga region of Ethiopia
Camel eating the thorney and bitter taste flora, Cactus

A very amazing piece of information about the camel population in the region is that there are 6.5 million camels in SRE. Please tell me your views in this regard. The total camel population in Ethiopia is more than 8 million. (as per oral information provided by Pastoral Bureau)

The other fact I found personally, is the taste of the milk of the Hoor or Hur camel breed in the the region. It was very strange for me as I have visited many different camel herding communities globally and tasted the milk of many camel types (Dromedary and Bactrian) but never found the taste like it was in the region. I drank camel milk in Jigjiga, and believe me the taste was like the taste of honey. The milk was acquired from the naturally grazing camels. There is a wide floral diversity and the camels consume it regularly while grazing/browsing in the rangelands.

A lactating camel of Hur breed, Jigjiga region Ethiopia

When I shared this information in the Camel4Life International (camel advocacy forum) WhatsApp group, many cameleers from different parts of the world responded with their experience of the camel milk taste. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/al-ain-doctor-sees-potential-in-camels-beyond-their-milk-1.51957
I can easily imagine! Our milk also can be very sweet (Ilse Kohler Rollefson, a German camel lover residing in Rajasthan with the camel herds). Dr Piers (camel owner and PhD in camel production from Kenya) responded as;

“My milk in Kenya does too, almost like coconut milk sweet. I am sure that the sweet flavour is the natural flavour of all free-ranging camels that have the liberty to choose what and how much they want to eat. Depending on the natural plants and ecology it can be salty, or sometimes very bitter if they eat flowering Vernonia shrubs for example. It’s like natural honey from bees, the flavour depends on the plants. Someone should open a shop selling all the different flavours of natural camel milk over the different seasons globally.

For further good reading about the incredible camels and my camel advocacy work, CLICK THE LINKS
Global Camel Research and Development Network (GCRDN)

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Camel in Middle East and Africa

Meet the Healthy Wajir Camel

Hey World

I’m Wajir, a Gabbra camel from Northern Kenya. I born in a beautiful commune in April 1997. My father is from the Gabbra tribe and my mother is from the Somali tribe. I have genes from the two important tribes. I have great makeup of genes, making me strong and keeping me alive for a longer period with full productivity and active life.

Watjir, the camel treasure of the Gabbra

I’m Strong

I’m proud of my genes, making me stronger and resilient. I have survived 2 very long and severe droughts. I just lowered my reproductive work and put my energy into surviving and enjoying life in aridity. This severe and longer drought sustained for 3 years, 2015-2018, and my many mates died. I still miss them all. I wish the world plant more vegetation, give us a better environment and make mother earth healthy and productive. I hope the rains will return to us as the rains love the vegetation.

Beautiful Wajir, lovely and proud

I’m Concerned About my Australian Mates

I have heard that some authorities in Australia are killing my camel fellows. Why they do so? The camels do not need anything from them. They live their own free and happy life. I’m very sad about them. I’m so confident and convinced that our troubles are because of our human masters, our troubles come from them, directly or indirectly.

I’m Still Productive and Lively

I have already returned to normal life. I have gifted a lot of my genes in the kind of beautiful camels to the Gabbra tribe. I’m very thankful to Gabbra, especially my master Tumal, for keeping me happy and taking care of me as a family member. I’m still surviving and gave birth to a beautiful male calf in December 2020.

Wajir

I really acknowledge Mr. Tumal, a loving animal keeper and master of Wajir.

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Camel and Nature Connection Camel Breed Camel in Middle East and Africa Climate Change Adaptation

The Secret Power is in the Camels’ Genes

Dr. Raziq with the Dairy Camels

The drive behind the camel domestication was a set of goals to achieve through this incredible animal, the camel; an animal that can produce food in a challenging scenario. These challenges were comprised of bad weathering, scarcity of food & water, and long traveling for different purposes.

Camels relying on the driedout bushes in the desert. Photo credit Haris Kakar

The wise cameleers selected the incredible camel to achieve this set of tasks to ensure food security and livelihood in the world’s driest landscapes. The secrets of the potential both as qualitative and quantitive traits are treasured in their genes. The camel can play a very multi-dimensional role for the betterment of the human being and Mother Earth. Camel4life international is an advocacy forum promoting camel at the global level to convince the policymakers and other stakeholders to use the camels as an agent for development and food security. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/science/effect-of-camel-milk-against-cancer-tested-in-regional-study-1.874484

Some days before I and Dr. Ulri were interviewed by Daniel Bardsley and published in the National Newspaper of the UAE. Here is the link to the interview in the following. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/environment/it-s-in-their-genes-saudi-study-seeks-to-analyse-how-camels-cope-with-extreme-temperatures-1.1140431

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Camel and Nature Connection Camel and water Camel in Middle East and Africa General about camel

Water Footprint of the Incredible Camel

Camels in the beautiful desert
The camels love to stay in groups

Why African Pastoralists are replacing cows with the camels?

Northern Kenya is the paradise of camels as well as other livestock species. The landscape of the region is home to the traditional livestock keepers, we call them pastoralists or nomads. The concurrent droughts and climate change calamities forced the traditional livestock keepers to replace the cattle pastoralism with the camel one because of its hardiness and water economy. Map of the region

A comparison of Indigenous cow vs camel in water economy

I hereby share the results of a study in the region, which will help you in understanding the water economy of the camel and other livestock. The camel almost drinks 1/3rd of the volume of water consumed by the local nomadic cow in the same environment and production system (dry season). The water economy is important and relevant in the dry season.

Camel is the animal of challenges

Dr. Raziq

a. Dry Season

To be even more exact in N Kenya pastoral systems the water intake in ml/kg (live body weight) per day in dry seasons is 25.4 ml/kg/day for camels; 70.75 ml/kg/day for cattle and 76 ml/kg/day for goats. It means a camel with a live body weight of 500, consumes a volume of 12.7 litre of water per day.

b. Wet Season

In wet seasons it is 3.37 ml/kg/day for camels and 24.69 for goats. The cattle were not recorded in wet. Figures for reference are taken from Field, 1983. Bear in mind that camels only lactate once in 2 years and cattle every year and goats 1.5× per year but even then camels use less water.

The camels are not only hardy to dry and harsh climatic conditions also the most effecient animal in water economy.

Reference

Challenges of camel production in Samburu District, Kenya Challenges of camel production in Samburu District, Kenya

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Camel in Middle East and Africa General about camel

Why a World Camel Day on 22 June?

Camel is one of the most important livestock for food security under climatic calamities. It is a sustainable livestock with lowest ecological footprints and produce one of the unique food, the camel milk. Camel milk is considered as the natural pharmacy.

Unfortunately, the camel is very little praised and appreciated for its role as a food security livestock. Camel is always neglected at all levels by the policymakers and very little attention is given in the R&D projects on a country, region, and global levels. The good thing is that the camel is again turning to its original task, the camel milk. New camel dairies are emerging both in the ancient habitats and new habitats of the camel. This return is mainly materialized by the author’s and his colleagues’ efforts, bringing camel at all levels and making the research findings understandable and practicable.

Camel ensure livelihood of its keepers in difficult environments

Dr. Younas

One of the most important milestones in such achievements is the world camel day 22 June.

Dr. Raziq

Why we chose the date of 22nd June?

In its original habitat, 21 June is the longest and hottest day of the year, in the northern hemisphere of the globe. Camel sustains its abilities of production in such harsh and hostile environments and adapts to the soaring heat and long thirsty day. We should have chosen the 21st of June as world camel day but it is specified for the world father day. So, we decided to skip 21 and selected 22nd June as the world camel day. The difference in day length is only 2 seconds between the 21st and 22nd June. For further reading about the history of the world camel day, please go to the link below. https://camel4all.blog/2020/06/20/history-of-world-camel-day-22-june/amp/

The pride of the desert
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Camel Milk is Safe and Health Conducive in Health Emergency COVID-19

Camelait camel milk of Alain
Camelait camel milk of Alain

Camel milk is not only safe but gives you vitality and natural support in coping with the health emergency, the COVID-19. For the last few days, I have been noticing some rumors circulating on social media narrating to avoid camel milk in COVID-19 emergency. As an official statement from the camel milk community, I hereby reject such false assumption and ask you to please take camel milk as a safe and healthy food as usual. Also, those who are not on camel milk or have no experience with the camel milk should come to this rich food.

Here are some key reasons why you should take camel milk not only as a food but as a very rich and naturally fortified bar. The camel milk (CaM) strengthens and revitalizes your body because of the following reasons.

a. Making you stronger and naturally Immunized: CaM is rich with super molecules like lysosomes, lactoferrin, Vit. C etc, helping in strengthening the body defence system. https://camel4all.info/index.php/about/camel4milk/

b. Biochemical Balance: Due to its unique composition and super balance of minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, and amino acids the camel milk provides a very healthy biochemical balance to the body. Such a good biochemical balance provide a medium for effecient physiological performance inside the body. 

d. Hormonal Calmness: The camel milk enhances the performance of the endocrine system in the body because of its nutrients, and its balance, which lead to a superbalance of the hormones. Such balance minimizes the shocks of the stress and strokes.  

f. Antiinflamatory effect: Because of its special micronutrients (nanobodies), camel milk enhances the performance at cell and tissue level which helps in effecient metabolism. 

g. Boost natural secretion: The camel milk boost the production of natural secretions and enzyems inside the body. Such secretions act as laxative, washing/flushing body, lowering load of oxidents  and poisonous residues which ultimately help in keeping the body performance very good and effecient. 

e. Helping hand in good sleep: The above mentioned performance of camel milk in the body boost and revitalize the body and help in a very good and deep sleep. 

For further study and details, please go to the link http://e. Helping hand in good sleep: W

cAmEl MiLk is a Natural Moisturizerhttps://youtu.be/FlUWAMPWglg

Camel milk forth is an appealing moisturizer. Look how an expert explains in this video about the importance and application of the camel milk forth or foam? Camel milk is very rich with supermolecules, capable of healing and revitalizing our skins. It can protect one from the sunburn and dry and chilling winds’ effects.