The grasslands and other expanses along the Isiolo-Marsabit road abound with camel trains on either side. One wonders the origin and the destination of these beasts of burden as they saunter on their journey under the watchful eye of a shepherd.
The camel is an ideal mode of transport for nomadic communities in arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya. Besides, the animal is domesticated for its milk, meat, hair and leather.
Karare is about 25km to Marsabit. Herein lies the 30-acre Korkora camel farm. Angelina Lenawamuro owns it.
At this farm, the animals’ groans and moans give the semblance of a camel market. However, this open-air enclosure of intertwined twigs serves as a research centre by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro).
Close to 100 camels are kept here. Clustered separately as families are the Somali, Rendille and Turkana breeds. All are the one-hump camels known as the dromedary. These animals won’t end up on a dining plate. They are specifically for activities related to milk production.
Lenawamuro has 40 dairy camels. Twenty are Somali and 20 Rendille. “I was impressed by the Somali camel,” she says. “It produces more milk than the Rendille type.”
Milking is done every morning and evening. For each milking session, “one Somali camel produces three litres during drought or four litres when pastures are plenty,” she says, while, “the Rendille produces one-and-a-half.”
Milking a camel requires quick reflexes. In fact, two people do it simultaneously. But prior to milking, a calf has to suckle its mother’s tits to stimulate milk flow.
Kalro research technologist Hussein Walaga says, “A camel allows milk letdown for only two minutes, unlike cattle, which do so for five to seven minutes. So milking has to be done very fast.”
As the ravages of drought keep scorching pastures, the Somali camel adapts easily to hot climates and, therefore, has an edge over cattle. Lenawamuro switched to the rearing of camels in 2009. “We used to keep cattle,” she says. “But whenever drought set in, most would die.”
Dr Kipkemoi Changwony, the Kalro director of the Sheep, Goat and Camel Research Institute in Marsabit, says, “The Somali breed of camels has been known to grow faster, attain a bigger body weight and are higher producers of milk than the Gabra, Rendille and Turkana camels.”
Kalro is seeking to speed up, under the Kenya Climate-Smart Agricultural Project (KCSAP), the multiplication of the Somali camel. Dr Changwony says, “The gist of the project is to have elite Somali camels breed multiplied so as to have parent stock to distribute later to the farming community.”
The Somali breed of camels has been known to grow faster, attain a bigger body weight and are higher producers of milk than the Gabra, Rendille and Turkana camels
CAMEL SEED MULTIPLICATION
Kalro is, therefore, using Lenawamuro’s farm to research seed multiplication with a view to spreading the Somali camel within communities in the arid north.
“We are working towards improving productivity as the environment changes to ensure increased wealth creation from farming as a business,” Dr Changwony says.
Under the KCSAP seed system for the camels, Kalro has established three breeding centres. Some 45 weaners have been acquired for breeding; 15 are in Isiolo. Lenawamuro’s farm and the Kalro Centre in Marsabit also have 15 each. In these centres, one male is to serve 14 females for multiplication.
Although 15 camels on Lenawamuro’s farm are Kalro’s for research purposes, she’s the beneficiary of the milk they produce.
The farmers at these centres will breed and sell the calves to other farmers near them. The resultant camels will have well adapted to their environments by the time they’ve matured.
Kalro has noticed how increasingly difficult and expensive it’s become in arid lands to get camels for breeding purposes. Under the seed system, Kalro hopes to cut down by half the cost of obtaining camels for breeding.
Lenawamuro set off in the camel business after quitting her work at an NGO. The first camels she bought were from her savings. She and her husband later pooled resources to buy more camels.
At the time of visiting the farm, there were 42 calves. Lenawamuro controls the population of male camels by selling most of them. For instance, in 2020, she got rid of 18 and bought 15 heifers. “This is because my aim is to increase milk production. The bulls are just for meat.”
One bull, according to Walaga, can serve up to 30-50 camels in a herd. “If you want to change your herd, you don’t go for a female, you go for a bull,” he says. “You’ll have 30-50 calves.”
On the other hand, “When you go for a female, you will wait for two years to get one calf and then wait for another three years for that calf to mature followed by another one year for it to give birth. So within the five years, you’ll only get one calf.”
A farmer who buys 50 weaners would stay for five years to get 50 calves. “But if one had one bull, within the five years he'd get 100 calves,” Walaga says.
CAMEL MILK PRODUCTION
A mature female costs around Sh70,000; a young calf, which has just been born, goes for around Sh50-60,000. The cost of a bull ranges from Sh65-100,000, depending on the market.
The setbacks Lenawamuro kept experiencing with cattle rearing made her reflect. She decided to try camels.
In 2009, she bought 22 camels, then in 2010, she added 13 and later 15 more. Her animals have kept increasing. She says, “I get about 40-50 calves every year. One or two may die.”
The camel rides on similar height advantage of the giraffe. The camel browses comfortably on the thorny, acacia family trees dotting areas with little rainfall, such as Marsabit. The animal is unperturbed by the thorniest plants in the hot, harsh environment, courtesy of its upper cleft-like lip that allows a thorn to prop up in between the lip while surrounding leaves are snapped.
Some of the camel milk Lenawamuro sells at her milk bar in Marsabit town originates from her farm. However, other camel keepers sell to her smaller quantities at Sh80 per litre, which she sells at Sh100. She desires to sell more milk.
“Camel milk has a longer shelf life. You can milk in the morning and use that milk in the evening while it’s still fresh,” Walaga says. “It’s also the best source of vitamin C.”
At Lenawamuro’s shop, customers come intermittently to buy the fresh milk. Whereas some carry it away, a few sip a mug of raw milk right there. The freezer is almost empty because there isn’t enough to be preserved.
Dr Changwony acknowledges that there’s a deficit in the production of camel milk in the country and this may not be solved soon. “Camel milk is the highest priced in the market because of the quantity produced versus the demand,” he says. Having camels that yield higher quantities of milk may cut down on the shortfall.
Lenawamuro hasn't abandoned cattle. Her attempts to grow her own grass have been futile. “The drought has been quite severe.”
Even though it’s expensive to maintain, the proceeds from the sale of camel milk enable her to buy fodder for her cattle. She buys fodder at Sh400 per bale, from Naromoru, and stores it for use during drought.
WATERING
The businesswoman has employed three shepherds to care for her camels. Watering them is laborious. One can easily consume about 100 litres within a few minutes.
At the Korkora farm, camels are watered once a week as opposed to the traditional systems, where it’s every 10-14 days. “The once-a-week production gives the farmer continuous milk supply for one-and-a-half years,” Walaga says.
Watering once a week also enables a farmer “to get maximum milk production every day and reach the peak when the calf is four months old, and it will take up to 16 months still at its peak production then it will start falling”.
On a daily basis, Lenawamuro’s business handles between 250 and 350 litres daily. The camels produce a total of 40 litres, while the rest is from other farmers who sell to her in smaller quantities, both camel and cattle milk.
The businesswoman expects to increase the size of her farm to 50 acres as her herd of camels grows. “Keeping camels is financially rewarding,” she says.
Edited by T Jalio
