Camel Herders Research Articles

Fonctionnement des élevages camelins de la zone périurbaine d’Agadez au Niger : enquête typologique

Le cheptel camelin est tributaire des ressources fourragères des parcours naturels dont le développement est soumis aux aléas de la pluviométrie, très mal repartie dans le temps et l’espace. Pour exploiter ces parcours, l’une des stratégies adoptée par les éleveurs est la mobilité. Cependant, depuis un certain temps, les mutations climatiques, socio-économiques et les conditions d’une urbanisation accélérée imposent de plus en plus des changements dans la règle de gestion des élevages. Le développement à Agadez d’une minilaiterie, dont l’activité principale est centrée essentiellement sur la transformation du lait de chamelle, nécessite la connaissance parfaite du fonctionnement des élevages laitiers qui vont approvisionner cette laiterie. Une enquête a été menée durant deux mois auprès de cent élevages camelins de la zone périurbaine d’Agadez en vue de connaître le fonctionnement des élevages de cette zone. L’analyse des données recueillies sur les pratiques de gestion de troupeaux et le fonctionnement global des élevages des pasteurs chameliers ont permis de distinguer trois grands types d’élevages, différenciés essentiellement sur la base des pratiques d’alimentation des animaux et sur la mobilité des pasteurs. A cela s’est ajoutée une affinité zonale de certains éleveurs, dont les causes sont sociohistoriques et écologiques. Le premier groupe de pasteurs avait la particularité d’être sédentaire, d’avoir un troupeau de taille moyenne et de pratiquer la complémentation et la spéculation laitière. Le deuxième groupe pratiquait fortement la transhumance en saison des pluies et certains d’entre eux complémentaient les animaux. La vente du lait de chamelle était quasi inexistante pour ces pasteurs. Les chameliers composant le troisième groupe avaient de grands troupeaux et pratiquaient en conséquence un nomadisme régulier. Par les contacts particuliers établis par certains producteurs de ce groupe avec la laiterie, la vente de lait était de plus en plus pratiquée. La taille, la composition des troupeaux, les ressources fourragères et hydrauliques constituaient les principaux facteurs déterminants des déplacements des éleveurs.

La dure école des petits chameliers du bassin tchadien

The Hard Life of Young Camel Herders. In the North of the lake Chad basin the camel herders give their children the hardest tasks. They do most of the keeping and watering of animals. There could be no extensive breeding in the desert without them. Development projects so far only tried to improve the medical and technical aspects of animal husbandry, but if children remain away from school, any technical improvement in camel herding will only strengthen a social system where children are enslaved for the adults' benefit.

Camel Husbandry Practices in Eastern Ethiopia: The Case of Jijiga and Shinile Zones

Introduction In Ethiopia, as in most dry lands of Africa and Asia, camels are the principal source of income and food for millions of pastoralists. In addition, camels play a central role in providing draught power and determining the wealth and social status of pastoralists. Ethiopia's camel population is estimated to be one million head (FAO 1996a). This number ranks the country third in Africa after Somalia and the Sudan, and fourth in the world (India included). Camels inhabit almost all peripheral drier lowlands that generally fall below 1,500 metres above sea level in Ethiopia, except the western areas where high humidity and the incidence of trypanosomiasis are common (Teka 1991; Tekel 1989; Wilson 1989b). These areas include the major parts of the Somali and Afar National Regional States and some parts of the Oromia National Regional State. (1) Afar camels are small but extremely hardy and, except for some used for salt transport, are kept almost entirely as milk producers. Ethiopia's largest camels are of the Ogaden type, owned by the Somali in the east of the country. These are also almost entirely used for milk production and only rarely for transport, except to move the household and its goods and chattels when changing camps. Borena camels (found in the Oromia National Regional State) are of intermediate size and are employed as pack, draught and dairy animals. The eastern part of Ethiopia is considered the heartland of the camel population, because it is home to two-thirds of the nation's camels (CSA 1988). Although the contribution of camels to the national economy is not fully quantified, Schwartz (1992) estimated that 20,000 tonnes of camel meat and 174,000 metric tons of camel milk were produced annually in the country. Even though Ethiopia possesses a large number of camels, little is known about camel husbandry practices or the productive and reproductive performance of camels (Teka 1991; Tekel 1989; Wilson 1989b). Given this state of affairs, this study was designed and executed as one component of the European Camel Project (ECP). (2) The results of this study are expected to provide basic information on the household characteristics of camel herders, as well as on herd demography, reproductive performance of camels and the constraints affecting the entire camel husbandry system in eastern Ethiopia. The rest of this paper is organised in three sections. Section I presents the research design and methods of data collection and analysis. Section II discusses the findings of the study. Section III concludes by discussing policy implications. Section I: Methodology Description of the study areas This study was conducted in the Somali National Regional State (SNRS), which is located in eastern Ethiopia. It is one of the nine ethnically based regional stales of the country and it is divided into nine zones. The total population of the SNRS in 1999 was estimated to be 3.6 million (5.84 percent of the country's population), of which the overwhelming majority (85 percent) is rural (MEDaC 2000). The population density of the region is 9.6 persons per [km.sup.2], as compared to the national figure of 49.3 persons per [km.sup.2] (MEDaC 2000). According to CSA (1999a), the predominant ethnic group in the SNRS are the Somali (95.7 percent), followed by the Oromo (2.3 percent), the Amhara (0.7 percent), the Guragie (0.14 percent), the Tigrie (0.05 percent) and the Sidama (0.03 percent). The percentage distribution by religion shows that 98.7 percent are Muslims, the remaining being Christians (1.1 percent) and followers of other belief systems (0.2 percent). The same source indicates that the Somali ethnic group, which accounts for 6.3 percent of the entire country's population, is the third most important ethnic group in the country, next to the Oromo (32 percent) and the Amhara (30 percent) The language most widely spoken in the SNRS is Somaligna, which is the language of the Somali ethnic group. …

Outbreaks of dermatophilus congolensis infection in camels (Camelus dromedarius) from the Butana region in Eastern Sudan

Natural Dermatophilus congolensis infection of camels has been reported in Kenya in semi-arid areas. Research is being conducted to discover how widespread the condition is in neighbouring countries with similar eco-climatic conditions. Severe skin infections of camels from the Butana region of Eastern Sudan were examined. The infections were first found in two herds of adult camels, of which 50%-75% of the animals were affected. In the other thirteen herds examined, camel calves were more likely to be infected (34%) than adults (8.9%), and lesions were more severe and involved most parts of the body. The lesions began as hair matting and later developed into hard crusts. The case fatality rate ranged from 10% to 30%. D. congolensis was isolated from the scabs. Camel dermatophilosis was found to be among the most serious problems faced by camel herders in the Butana region.

Inter-ethnic clan identities, ethnicity, centrisms and biases; a response to Paul Spencer

In 1985 I had the opportunity to publish an article with the title ‘Inter-ethnic clan identities among Cushitic-speaking pastoralists’ in this journal. The same year I submitted a book on the same topic as a Habilitation thesis to the University of Bayreuth and I. M. Lewis expressed interest in publishing it in the IAI series. The publication was delayed until 1989, partly because of disagreement with a reader who suggested that I cut out parts which I regarded as central to my argument while inviting me to expand on marginal aspects. The book did not and does not fit the standard pattern for an anthropological monograph in the British tradition, and local lore about ‘how things are done’ sometimes seems to prevent people from tracing the internal logic of an unfamiliar and somewhat complex argument. An adequate analysis of the working of identity processes and micro-cultures in this field of scholarship would require an auto-reflexive effort of anthropology, an effort no less than the one which was necessary for disentangling the web of inter-ethnic clan relationships among the Cushitic-speaking camel herders of northern Kenya.

Camels in the farming systems of the arid highlands of western Pakistan: is management research a worthwhile investment?

Farmers and camel herders in the arid highlands of western Pakistan are generally disadvantaged economically. The results of a survey of highland farmers indicate that they own on average 5·2 camels, the majority of which are of working age. Camels are a major financial asset for farmers and 57 percent of farmers/herders expect to be using such animal draft power in 10 years time. Camels are valued for their versatility of agricultural use and are particularly preferred over tractors for sowing operations. In cases of animal sickness farmers are usually dependent on home remedies as veterinarians are not easily available.

Politics in an Arabian oasis: the Rashidi tribal dynasty

This text is both a study of the relationships between tribes and state formation, and a political history of central Arabia. It deals with the Rashidi dynasty which in the 19th century emerged among the Shammar camel herders, made the oasis of Hail a capital rivalling Mecca and Medina in fame and prosperity, and attempted to unify central Arabia into a single polity. The author considers why at this particular moment the Shammar became susceptible to political centralization, the internal and external factors that contributed to the emergence of their dynasty, the changes in the political system and the factors which contributed to the subsequent instability and decline of the Shammar polity in the 20th century.

Prevalence of Primary Adult Lactose Malabsorption in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

Although it has been reported that adult lactose malabsorption (ALM) is relatively common among Arabs, data on the prevalence of ALM in the Saudi and Yemeni populations are scant. We have determine...

The Changing Resources of Sedentary Communities in Air, Southern Sahara

ASTORAL nomadism in the Sahara appears in the long run to lack a future, since it is unable to produce commodities that can command an assured market, at rising or stable prices, to sustain an increase in living standards. The adoption of a sedentary way of life seems to be a precondition for development. In Air, a region in the northern part of the Republic of Niger, the settlement of nomads has been officially encouraged since 1922, but it is complicated by a long-standing duality between the nomadic, pure-bred Tuareg camel herders and the formerly servile sedentary cultivators of mixed descent. Sedentarization emphasizes the economic future of agriculture, which is severely limited by natural conditions. Furthermore, the French conquest, half a century of colonial rule, and the economic changes in the twentieth century have initiated a process of continuing geographical change. It is in the light of these changes that an evaluation of the resources of the sedentary communities of Air must be made, with particular reference to the ecology of agricultural land use.1

Nomadisme

Nomadisme