This paper describes the role of the camel in shaping and supporting the pastoral economy and culture of the Somali community in northern Kenya. Over 70% of Kenya's land mass consists of arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) of low agricultural potential, and northern Kenya falls within this region. Extensive livestock grazing, in a nomadic pastoral production system, is the most suitable means of utilizing ASALs. Of the many nomadic communities living in northern Kenya, the Somali tribe is perhaps the largest keeping mainly camels, but also cattle and small stock (sheep and goats). Camels are well adapted to the harsh conditions of the ASALs. In the Somali pastoral lifestyle, camels play multiple roles, of which milk production is perhaps the most important. Camel meat is a delicacy not to be missed during festivities. Male camels are also used for transportation of water, and of household items when families move to new grazing sites within the range. In addition, camels have an important role in traditional social relations, such as in payment of a dowry, and in compensation of injured parties in clan feuds. In the Somali culture, camel ownership (in terms of herd size) is an indication of social status. Also, in the Somali traditional economy, camels are the main reserve stock, and therefore act as a store of wealth and security against drought, disease and other natural calamities.
AbdullahiA., and BoehleW. (1998), ‘Camel's milk economics in pastoral Somalia’, in BonnetP., ed, Proceedings of the Conference on Dromedaries and Camels, Milking Animals, 24–26 October 1994, Nouakchott, Mauritania, pp 267–273.
BabikerS. A., and TibinI. M. (1988), ‘A note on desert camel meat production and characteristics’Annual Report, Camel Research Unit, University of Khartoum, Sudan, pp 116–120.
4.
CBS (2001), The 1999 Population and Housing Census, Vol. I. Population Distribution by Administrative Areas, Age and Sex, Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Ministry of Finance and Planning, Nairobi.
5.
DahlG., and HjortA. (1976), ‘Having herds – pastoral herd growth and household economy’, University of Stockholm, Stockholm.
6.
El-GassimE. A., and El-HagG. A. (1992), ‘Carcass characteristics of the Arabian camel’, Camel Newsletter, Vol 9, pp 20–24.
7.
El-MagoliS. B.AwadA. A., and El-WakeilF. A. (1973), ‘Intramuscular lipid chemistry of beef and camel longissimus dorsi muscle’, Egyptian Journal of Food Science, Vol 1, p 75.
8.
FAOSTAT (2004), Food and Agricultural Organization Statistical Databases, Website: http://faostat.fao.org/ (last accessed November 2004).
9.
FarahZ. (1993), ‘Composition and characteristics of camel milk’, Journal of Dairy Research, Vol 60, pp 603–626.
10.
FarahZ. (2004), ‘Milk’, in FarahZ., and FischerA., eds, Milk and Meat From the Camel, Handbook on Products and Processing, VDF, Germany, and ETH, Switzerland, pp 25–28.
11.
FarahZ.RettenmayerR., and AtkinsD. (1992), ‘Vitamin content of camel milk’, International Journal of Vitamin and Nutrition Research, Vol 62, pp 30–33.
12.
FieldC. R. (1978), ‘The food habits of camels in Northern Kenya’IPAL Technical Report E-1b, UNEP-MAB Integrated Project in Arid Lands (IPAL), Nairobi.
13.
GuliyeA. Y.YagilR., and HovellF. D. De B. (2000), ‘Milk composition of Bedouin camels under semi-nomadic production system’, Journal of Camel Practice and Research, Vol 7, pp 209–212.
14.
HartleyB. J. (1979), ‘The dromedary of the horn of Africa’, in CockrillW. R., ed, The Camelid. An All Purpose Animal, Vol. I, Proceedings of the Khartoum Workshop on Camels, 18–20 December, Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden, pp 176–197.
15.
HassanY. M. (1971), ‘A note on the effect of dehydration on a camel’, Sudan Journal of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry, Vol 12, pp 111–112.
16.
HerrmannK., and FischerA. (2004), ‘Dressing of the camel carcass’, in FarahZ., and FischerA., eds, Milk and Meat from the Camel: Handbook on Products and Processing, VDF, Germany, and ETH, Switzerland, pp 109–135.
17.
HusseinM. A. (1987), ‘Traditional practices of camel husbandry and management in Somalia’Camel Forum Working Paper No. 19, Somali Academy of Sciences and Arts.
18.
HusseinM. A. (1993), ‘Traditional practices of camel husbandry and management in Somalia’, in HjortafOrnäs A., ed, The Multi-Purpose Camel: Interdisciplinary Studies on Pastoral Production in Somalia, Research Programme on Environmental Policy and Society (EPOS), Department of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala, Sweden, pp 123–140.
19.
KarueC. N. (1998), ‘The dairy characteristics of the Kenyan camel’, in BonnetP., ed, Proceedings of the Conference on Dromedaries and Camels, Milking Animals, 24–26 October 1994, Nouakchott, Mauritania, CIRAD, France, pp 55–60.
20.
KnoessK. H. (1979), ‘Milk production in the dromedary’, in IFS (International Foundation for Science) International Symposium on Camels, Sudan, pp 201–214.
21.
KurtuM. Y. (2004), ‘An assessment of the productivity for meat and the carcass yield of camels (Camelus dromedarius) and of the consumption of camel meat in the eastern region of Ethiopia’, Tropical Animal Health and Production, Vol 36, pp 65–76.
22.
Lang'atR. K., and MwangataJ. H. N. (1994), ‘Range management in Kenya: Progress and status’, in HerlockerD.ShaabaniS., and BuigottK. S. A., eds, Range Management Handbook of Kenya, Vol. 1, Part 1, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing, Nairobi.
23.
MoLFD (2003), Annual Report, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development (MoLFD), Nairobi.
24.
MortonR. H. (1984), ‘Camels for meat and milk production in sub-Sahara Africa’, Journal of Dairy Science, Vol 67, pp 1548–1553.
25.
OmindeS. H. (1988), Kenya's Population Growth and Development to the Year 2000, Heinmann Kenya Limited, Nairobi.
26.
OnjoroP. A. (2004), ‘Effects of mineral status on milk production of free-ranging Somali camels (Camelus dromedarius) in northern Kenya’, PhD dissertation, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.
27.
ØrskovE. R. (1987), ‘The role of livestock in Africa: Are livestock occasionally contributing to famine?’Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, Vol 46, pp 301–308.
28.
OrtizA., and Mukasa-MugerwaE. (1979), The Camel. A Review of Some Aspects of the Physiology, Productivity and Diseases of the Dromedary, ILCA, Addis Ababa.
29.
RametJ. P. (2001), ‘The technology of making cheese from camel milk (Camelus dromedarius)’, FAO Animal Production and Health Paper, Vol 113, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Rome.
30.
SchwartzH. J. (1989), Productivity and Utilization of the One-Humped Camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Africa, Consultant Report to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Rome and Berlin.
31.
SchwartzH. J.DolanR., and WilsonA. J. (1983), ‘Camel production in Kenya and its constraints, 1, Productivity’Tropical Animal Health and ProductionVol 15, pp 169–178.
32.
SchwartzH. J., and WalshM. G. H. (1992), ‘The productive potential of the camel’, in SchwartzH. J., and DioliM., eds, The One-Humped Camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Eastern Africa. A Pictorial Guide to Disease, Health Care and Management, Verlag Josef Margeraf Scientific Books, Germany, pp 30–61.
33.
SimpkinS. P. (1998), ‘The effects of breed and management on milk yield of camels in Kenya’, PhD thesis, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
34.
StilesD. (1987), ‘Camel vs cattle pastoralism: Stopping desert spread’, Desertification Control Bulletin, Vol 14, pp 15–21.
35.
StilesD. (1995), ‘The advantages of camels over other livestock in drylands’, in EvansJ. O.SimpkinS. P., and AtkinsD. J., eds, Camel Keeping in Kenya: Range Management Handbook of Kenya, Vol III. 8, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Marketing, Nairobi, pp 1:5–1:7.
36.
WilsonR. T. (1978), ‘Studies on the livestock of northern Darfur, Sudan: 5. Notes on camels’, Tropical Animal Health and Production, Vol 10, p 19.
37.
WilsonR. T. (1992), ‘Factors affecting weight and growth in one humped camel’, in AllenW. R.HigginsA. J.MayhewI. G.SnowD. H., and WadeJ. F., eds, Proceedings of the First International Camel Conference, Dubai, pp 309–312.
38.
WilsonR. T. (1998), Camels, Macmillan Education Ltd, London.
