White gold: Is camel milk the next big thing?

The demand for camel milk is growing, and fast. This is according to Jama Warsame, the proprietor of White Gold Camel Milk brand.

White Gold, located in Nanyuki, processes 600 litres of fresh camel milk every day. The milk is packaged and sold under the brand name White Gold camel milk. “So far, our milk is available in at least three supermarkets. We have plans to get it to other supermarkets as well,” says Mr Warsame.

The White Gold brand is sold in other East African countries as well. Yet, according to Warsame, the company has “not even satisfied demand in Kenya alone”.

Demand for camel milk is driven by the notion that it is healthier than cow milk.

Warsame says he learnt that doctors and nutritionists had been prescribing camel milk as he went about researching about it in the months leading to the formation of White Gold.

Lifestyle diseases

“They were recommending camel milk to patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and even autism,” he says.

Evelyn Kwamboka, a journalist, is an avid camel milk consumer. Kwamboka was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis a few years ago.

“I was taking medicine – blood thinners and steroids – after falling ill,” she says. “My doctor then recommended a diet, which included goat or camel milk.”

She first tried goat milk. It did not work so well. Then she moved to camel milk. It was quite the panacea, she says.

And so, camel milk has become synonymous with healthy eating: a factor that contributed to Warsame’s going into the business.

Tumal Ardo, a 64-year-old from Marsabit North, owns about 80 camels. In the Somali community, the camel is the ultimate symbol of opulence and good living.

Ardo comes from an elaborate tradition of camel ownership. Going back six generations, he says, his family has owned and lived with camels.

Precious milk

“In our culture, camel milk is precious. It is highly medicinal. Fresh camel milk cleanses the gut in 24 hours. When a person is sick we give them fresh camel milk.”

Approximately 18 of his camels are producing milk: every day the camels give Ardo at least 40 litres.

One would assume Ardo sells off the milk to earn some money since camel milk attracts higher revenue. He, however, utilises all of it in various ways.

“We use some for our own consumption. I feed the rest to kids and lambs. Camel milk is nutritious for them too.

“I make money by selling the goats and the sheep. Every year I sell at least 150 goats and sheep. As for the camels, they are resilient, and are the basis of the survival of my venture,” he says.

Dr James Janja, the vice chairperson of Kenya Camel Association (KCA), takes note that camels are perhaps the most undervalued domestic animals.

But the camel is built for dry areas. The animal is massive, by domestic-animal standards. Camels tower above humans: they grow to a shoulder height of 6 feet and a body length of 3m.

NOT AGRESSIVE

According to Kipkemboi Changwony, head of Sheep, Goat and Camel Institute in Marsabit, the animal is not aggressive by default.

“The animal is docile if the farmer knows how to handle them,” says Dr Changwony, adding: “But they can be a little aggressive if one does not know how to handle them.”

Perhaps its most dangerous aggressive reaction would be a back kick, which can cause grievous harm. The camel can sometimes bite, and in a few occasions, spit – when it feels threatened.

Free range

Changwony says once a farmer has made himself familiar, the animal responds instinctually and grows friendly.

With demand for camel milk on the rise, the big question is: Can the animal be farmed? And if so, how would one go about it? According to David Hewett, the Ranch Manager at Mpala Ranch Limited in Nanyuki, camels are best reared as free-range animals.

He says: “Because of its size, the animal consumes a lot. While in the Middle East the animal has successfully survived under a feedlot system, in Kenya this has never been tried.

“It is my opinion that the camel in Kenya is best reared as a free range animal where it is allowed to graze on its own.

“A good camel farming business would require that the farmer is milking about 50 camels. To reach this number one ought to have a large herd.

“At Mpala we have 114 camels but only 12 are milked,” he says.

The implication of zero-grazing the camel is in providing the whole herd with their daily nutritional needs.

A free-range setup is also advantageous to the quality of the milk the animal produces. Changwony notes that camels are browsers. Unlike other animals, camels feed on hundreds of shrub species; including those that would be poisonous to other animals. Camels can also graze on grass. The diversity of their food has been credited for the quality of the milk the animal produces, as well as the milk’s famous medicinal qualities.

Free-range camel rearing would necessitate ranching or the availability of large parcels of unutilised community land.

The camel is built for the arid environment. Ardo’s camels browse and graze over hundreds of kilometres – following trail of shrub growth.

Part of his catchment is the famous Chalbi Desert; seemingly barren, yet, for his camels, the few resources the desert offers are good enough.

The animal does not have high water needs. Changwony says camels go for days without a sip of water. The animal is incredibly resilient.

This, Hewett says, does not mean that the animal would not do well in wet areas.

“They would also benefit when there is a lot of water. Camels have now been successfully reared in much wetter environments like Gilgil in Nakuru,” Hewett says.

While the animal can stay long without water, at the point of refilling, it can consume upwards of 100 litres at a go.

Camel husbandry

Though hardy, the animal still needs to be attended to. At Mpala, on average, one or two camels will need the vet’s attention in a month.

“Because of the animal’s browsing behaviour, thorns pose its most immediate health challenges,” Hewett says. “Thorn injuries cause abscesses that need to be treated.”

A thorn might be lodged anywhere on the camel’s body, but the most likely points of injury are feet, limbs and shoulders.

He adds that camels are also predisposed to trypanosomiasis; caused by tsetse flies. The animal should also be treated for worms and ecto-parasites such as ticks, fleas and mites.

“So, there may be a need for occasional spraying of the animal,” says Changwony.

In general, though, Changwony says, the camel is a hardy animal built for survival in the desert.

Hewett makes a point of supplementing the animals’ browsing with mineral supplements in form of salts and molasses occasionally.

Researcher Mutsanzi from JKUAT has developed a value added lotion from camel milk. [Standard]

Reproduction

A camel farmer will need patience to build his herd. The animal is not as prolific as cows, goats and sheep – the commonest livestock.

“The gestation period of a camel is 13 months,” says Hewett.

The animal, Changwony says, comes into breeding three to five years after birth: quite a long time to wait.

He states that a camel can live for 15 years. In that period, he estimates that a female one can give birth between five and seven times if it is prolific enough.

Camel species

There are two types of camels; dromedary camels, which have one hump, and Bactrian camels, which have two humps. Dromedaries are found in the horn of Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East. Bactrian camel lives in Central Asia.

In Kenya, Changwony notes, a few breeds are noteworthy.

He says: “The bigger the camel the more the milk it can produce. The Somali camel is the largest camel (in size and weight) in Kenya. It produces far more milk than other camels.

“It is closely followed by Rendile/Gabra, Turkana and the Pakistani breeds in that order. Camels – especially male ones – are usually sold off for their meat: which is a high value delicacy in some communities.”