Health-conscious people now opt for camel’s milk

Health-conscious urban residents are turning to camel's milk and milk products because of their high nutrition and anti-bacterial and anti-viral qualities.

Anti-aging, anti-carinogenic too, promoters say. 

They want to buy high-quality, uncontaminated products from clean outlets.

The Garissa government hopes to cash in on the interest in camel's milk and unlock Sh1 billion potential in camel milk and milk products.  

The dairy subsector has been facing challenges that affect production of camel milk.

Camels are a source of wealth in the Somali culture. They also produce milk during drought when cows, goats and sheep are overwhelmed. 

County director of Livestock Haret Hambe said on Monday the main challenges facing the largely informal sector are fluctuating productivity, low domestic consumption of milk and milk products and lack of equipment and training for producers and vendors.

Hygiene among farmers and vendors is another problem, including contamination of containers.

Hambe spoke on Monday during a dairy awareness workshop in Garissa.

The workshop was hosted by the Kenya Dairy Board in partnership with the USAID-funded Livestock Marketing System programme and the Garissa government.

Director Hambe said poor hygiene and contamination of containers affects longevity of milk.

“Camel milk has low cholesterol and is rich in vitamin c, sodium, potassium, iron, copper, zinc and magnesium," he said. 

Hambe said the milk also contains fatty acids, enzymes and protective proteins.

It has medicinal value due to antibacterial, antiviral, anti-diabetic, anti-ageing and anti-carcinogenic components, he said.

Joyce Nyamwathi of the dairy board said her organisation partnered with the county and Kebs to raise hygiene and safety standards in camel milk processing.

“The growing urban population is demanding more milk and becoming health-conscious. They prefer to buy from clean outlets, hence, farmers and vendors need to adopt hygiene,” she said.

Livestock Market Systems county manager John Kutwa said his organisation was keen on strengthening economic systems for camel farmers.

“We are intent on ensuring camel farmers produce the best hygienic products with less wastage. A product that could be sold countrywide and exported,” he said.

Kenya is the world's second-largest producer of camel milk after Somalia.

Food and Agricultural Organization data shows the country produced 876,224 tonnes of milk in 2017.

Mandera county leads with 1,016,970 million camels followed by Turkana with 832,462 and Wajir with 533,651.

Present at the workshop were county staff from different departments, farmers and staff from partner organisations.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)