Isiolo women churn fortune from camel milk and meat

Camels graze at Mulango area of Isiolo county, March 8, 2016, milk from this area is later delivered to Tawakal women group collection and storage depot in the town before being ferried to Nairobi and other major towns where a liter fetches Sh 200 . PHOTO: MOSE SAMMY/STANDARD

It is 3am. A group of women has already begun their day. They are ferrying their milk to the bus stage for onward transportation to Nairobi.

On this particular day, the women are at their depot in Isiolo town to prepare 300 litres of fresh camel milk bound for Nairobi’s Eastleigh.

They are 25 members of the Tawakal Women Group, who are transforming their fortunes with camel milk. They receive the milk every afternoon and keep it fresh in refrigerators and cold room.

“We get our supply from herders from the neighbouring Samburu and Meru counties. We have to refrigerate the milk to keep it fresh for the Nairobi market,’’ says Dekha Adow, the group’s chairlady.

One of the group’s main suppliers is Adan Abdi, who rides 50 kilometres daily to Shab Hills along the Isiolo-Meru border to collect the milk.

Cooling centre

‘“I wake up at 4.30am every day to bring 100 litres of camel milk to the group. I make two trips and I am through with my work by 2pm,’’ said Abdi.

The group also gets milk from Mulango, 20km west of Isiolo town, and Archers Post in Samburu East.

“It is difficult to get more than 300 litres at the moment as the camels are lactating,’’ says Adow.

During peak seasons, the women sell up to 3,000 litres of fresh camel milk to the Nairobi market.

At their cooling centre, which is housed in a building owned by the group, the women run a milk bar where they also sell fresh and fermented milk and yogurt processed from camel milk.

“Each of our member has a specific role. Some work at the milk bar while others in the cold room. At night, a group takes the milk to the stage from where it is ferried to Nairobi by buses,’’ said the chair lady.

The group buys a litre at Sh80 from the farmers and sell it at Sh150 in Isiolo town and Sh200 in Nairobi.

“We have an order from Eastleigh to supply camel milk daily. We get our money at the end of the month,’’ said Adow.

Their clients are mostly refugees from Somalia living in Nairobi.

“In the capital city, the milk is sold in hotels. Some is packaged and sold in supermarkets,’’ she says.

At the milk bar, Maimuna Mohammed, the operator, sells a small glass at Sh30. A bigger glass goes for Sh80. “We sell an average of 100 litres of camel milk to consumers in Isiolo town every day,’’ said Ms Mohammed.

The group, formed in 2013, has undergone training in hygiene and business management at the Naivasha Dairy Training Institute under a project funded through Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) and National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Policy (Nalep).

“Apart from the training, we also got a donation of milk gallons of 500kg and six fridges,’’ she said.

Three years into the venture, the group has bought a plot on which they have put up a commercial building.

“We operate from here and occupy two of the main front shops. The others have been rented out,’’ said Mohammed.

Somali delicacy

Individually, the group members own camels. The group also sells ‘nyirinyiri’, a local delicacy of camel meat cut into tiny pieces and deep-fried.

‘“Nyirinyiri is a Somali delicacy in high demand and if well-preserved can stay for up to a month,’’ said Adow.

Besides the fresh milk, they also send 160kg of the prepared meat in metal containers to Nairobi twice a week. A kilo of the meat fetches Sh1,200. In Isiolo, a kilo of raw meat is sold at Sh400

‘’We get orders, some for weddings, from Nairobi and even Tanzania,’’ she said.

But the group fear that their market is decreasing as their supply is increasing.

‘’The population of our main customers (the Somalia refugees) is decreasing in Nairobi. A sizeable number have either moved out of the country or relocated to refugee camps,’’ said Adow.

Recently, the group developed and sent a business proposal to the USAid funded Resilience and Economic Growth in the Arid Lands—Accelerated Growth (Regal-AG) on camel meat value addition product (nyirinyiri).

It is among five from Isiolo and Marsabit that are at initial negotiation stages. If successful, they will get Sh2.5 million in grants.

According to Isiolo Camel Keepers Co-operative Society Secretary Igle Hassan, there are about 40,000 camels in Isiolo Central alone.

“We now have more camels near Isiolo town due to demand for milk and meat,’’ said Mr Hassan.