Camel mik hygiene: analysis of camel milk contamination in Garissa and Wajir counties in Kenya

Abstract

Camel rearing is a common practice in the arid areas of Africa where regular droughts followed by famine are common. Camel milk is known to have high nutritional values as well as medicinal properties as the camel browse on natural trees and bushes .Camel milk as become very popular not only among traditional Somali people but to the general public as well. Little however is known of the traditional practices used in the communities and their effects on camel milk hygiene .In this book, the camel milking practices and their effects on milk hygiene are analyzed in two main camel rearing counties of Wajir and Garissa in Kenya. There was evidence of substantial bacterial and physical contamination both that the farm level and along the market chain and opportunities for intervention with a view to commercialization is highlighted. T he analysis should shed light on this new sector of development geared towards the arid and semi arid and should especially useful to development agency professionals or others who are keen to provide food security to communities who defend on camel especially during droughts when other livestock die or are un-thrifty