Milking Drylands: The Marketing of Camel Milk in North-East Somalia

Abstract

Abstract Increasing market integration appears to be an unavoidable process for most pastoral societies. Raising substitution rates between direct utilisation of animal products and consumption of cereals exchanged through markets is the most important reason for consistent population growth on rangelands (Helland 2000). To some extent, market exchanges are therefore a determinant of pastoral livelihoods, especially during the dry season when internal food production does not always satisfy households' energy requirements. While offering potential for development, market integration of pastoral economies also presents critical risk factors. Increasing interdependence on regional and global political and economic environments compound pastoral vulnerability to climatic extremes. The Milking Drylands research initiative (1) addresses these issues in one particular area of the world, Somalia. In this paper, mechanisms regulating the marketing of camel milk in north-eastern Somalia (Region of Puntland) are analysed in order to provide relevant insights into a society that continues to experience a lack of central government and institutional capacities. Our preliminary research findings provide some indications that pastoral dairy marketing serves a number of economic as well as social functions, through the exchange of a number of commodities, non-commodity services and information, which aims to satisfy the needs of both pastoral and urban communities. Keywords: Somalia, pastoralism, dairy marketing, drylands, gender. Study Rationale Pastoral communities inhabit areas where constraining soil, rainfall and temperature conditions provide limited effective and sustainable options for land use other than mobile livestock rearing. Food security in these areas is of increasing concern as political and socio-economic changes are reshaping rural livelihoods in many parts of the world. Pastoral societies face more threats to their way of life now than at any previous time, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. These areas are beset by recurrent drought and other severe climatic extremes. Trends of population growth, climate change and globalisation are placing growing pressures upon rangelands and the complex socio-political systems that govern them, and are increasing the vulnerability of pastoral communities. This article introduces the Milking Drylands research initiative, which aims to understand the shifting livelihood patterns of pastoral communities in the Horn of Africa. More specifically, it focuses on Somali pastoralism. Somali pastoralism extensively relies upon mobility, information networks and market integration, and has a high exposure to the processes of globalisation. A comprehensive analysis of pastoral market dynamics in the Somali region holds great potential to contribute towards the sustainable development of drylands. Preliminary research findings and methodological elements are described in the article. Data presented here were collected directly during fieldwork, or gathered from a number of agencies operating in the research area and verified during field missions. This research further aims to provide useful indications of the ways in which pastoral societies could contribute to debates relating to globalisation. Concepts such as mobility, risk management, decentralised authority, insecurity, transnationalism, information systems, public goods, and network society are being increasingly acknowledged in current societal debates. While much is still to be learned about these concepts from pastoral cultures themselves, most policies and investments in pastoral areas still aim to sedentarise and 'domesticate' herders and convert them to the 'civilised' lifestyle of settled farmers and urban inhabitants. Introduction While the demise of pastoral livelihoods has been frequently pointed out, in many areas of the world pastoralism represents the most important livelihood strategy of a growing number of households (Blench 2001; Swift 2004). …