Camel keepers near end of earnings drought with Sh2.4bn Isiolo factory

Kenya targets higher revenues from camel products with a Sh2.4 billion milk processing factory to be set up in Isiolo whose focus will be value addition.

The country has the fifth largest camel population in the world, after Somalia, followed by Sudan, Ethiopia and Mauritania.

Majority of the camels are found in Kenya’s northeastern arid towns including Wajir, Garissa, Marsabit, Isiolo, Mandera, Samburu and Laikipia.

According to the 2009 population census, the number of camel in the country stood at 2.9 million. Kenya produces about 715 million litres of camel milk a year, translating to Sh32 billion at farm gate prices of Sh45 a litre.

“The project involves establishment of a world class camel milk processing factory in the region to add value to the milk for both local and export market,” says Ewaso Ng’iro North Development Authority – the agency in charge of project implementation. The factory is set to uplift the fortunes of the pastoralists, most of whom are low-income earners.

Construction will be through a public-private partnership (PPP) in which private firms will invest in the project, operate it for an agreed period to recoup their expenses and profit before handing it over to the State.

Demand for camel milk, considered to have medicinal value, has soared in recent years in Asia and the United Arab Emirates, expanding the market for farmers, according to Kenya Livestock Producers Association.

Its medicinal properties are believed to improve chronic conditions like diabetes, tuberculosis and blood pressure.

The government also plans to set up a Sh3.5 billion ($35 million) central meat factory in one of the pastoralists’ towns to process quality meat and meat products alongside by-products.

The integrated factory will have an annual capacity of processing 72,000 cows, 30,000 sheep and goats and 12,000 camels.