• Theirs is a story of hard work, resilience and sheer determination to succeed.
• Saka Camel Milk chairman Hassan Hussein said when drought destroyed their crops and animals died, they had to think of ways to survive.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Perennial drought and effects of climate change have forced pastoralists in Garissa to think outside the box and diversify their venture.
Saka camel milk group in Balambala and Dadaab was founded by a group of people who wanted to find a solution to the challenges brought about by climate change.
Theirs is a story of hard work, resilience and sheer determination to succeed.
They add value to camel milk, making products such as cookies, flavoured yoghurt and ice cream.
The idea was mooted six years ago when 30 people gathered under a big acacia tree, with the sole aim was finding ways to overcome the challenges of unemployment linked to climate change.
Saka Camel Milk chairman Hassan Hussein said when drought destroyed their crops and animals died, they had to think of ways to survive.
“We had to think first how to salvage ourselves out of the situation we found ourselves in after floods destroyed our crops along River Tana while others lost livestock to drought,” he said.
Apart from value addition, they also collect milk from herders and sell it directly to consumers in Garissa town and its environs.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Hassan said they settled on camel milk because the animals are drought-resistant and they produce milk throughout the year. Majority of residents prefer camel milk to that of cows and goats.
“Health-conscious urban residents are also turning to camel milk and milk products because of its high nutrition, anti-bacterial and anti-viral qualities,” he said.
Camel milk has low cholesterol and is rich in vitamin C, sodium, potassium, iron, copper, zinc and magnesium
Hassan said at first their business was mainly focused on selling milk but due to competition, they had to venture into value addition.
“We embarked on value addition by introducing flavoured yoghurt and biscuits made from camel milk. We, however, faced the challenges of equipment and training on the production of the new products,” he said.
Hassan said having the community embrace their products has not been easy as most people are still hooked to the traditional lifestyle. He said, however, things have started changing for the better.
Group secretary Dola Dubow said Feed the Future Kenya-Livestock Market Systems Activity, funded by the Usaid, recognised their efforts and came to support them.
Dola said they were assisted on economic stimulus, cooperative training and linkage to financial institutions.
She said they gained knowledge and skills on record keeping, managing finances, loan tracking and how to interact with customers.
Some group members recently toured several Kenya Cooperative Creameries and they are planning to establish a camel and dairy milk factory in the near feature.
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 533,651.