{"id":24934,"date":"2020-01-02T10:33:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T09:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/story\/milchexpress-von-der-savanne-in-die-stadt\/"},"modified":"2022-10-05T13:48:19","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T11:48:19","slug":"milk-expressway-from-the-savannah-to-the-city","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/story\/milk-expressway-from-the-savannah-to-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Milk expressway from the savannah to the city"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\"Der
Der Verkauf von Kamelmilch und Kamelmilchprodukten bringt den Mitgliedern der Anolei-Kooperative zus\u00e4tzliches Einkommen.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Annab
Annab Kassim im Gespr\u00e4ch mit Hirten \u00fcber die Gesundheit ihres Kamels<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Hirten
Hirten und Kamelhalterinnen stehen am Anfang der Milchstrasse. Sie werden in der hygienischen Milchgewinnung geschult.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Hygiene
Hygiene bei der Milchverarbeitung und der Aufbau einer K\u00fchlkette f\u00fcr alle Produkte geniessen eine hohe Priorit\u00e4t im Projekt.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"In
In der Molkerei wurde die Herstellung verschiedener Kamelmilch- Spezialit\u00e4ten ge\u00fcbt \u2013 besonders gut kamen bei der Kundschaft Joghurts und S\u00fcssigkeiten an.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Once milk couriers reach the gravel road to Isiolo on their motorcycles in the remote north-east of Kenya, the most difficult part of their journey is behind them. Their journey usually begins by collecting plastic canisters of milk from camel herders\u2019 camps, far from any roads. Then they must drive the canisters through the rugged countryside (see cover picture). In Isiolo, a town of around 30,000 in northeastern Kenya, members of the women\u2019s Anolei Milk Cooperative impatiently await the couriers. The cooperative\u2019s collection and processing centre for camel milk has been supported by Biovision and Veterinarians without Borders (V\u00e9t\u00e9rinaires sans Fronti\u00e8res, or VSF) Switzerland since 2013. The dairy is an important link in the processing and value chain being established as part of the Camels for Drought Areas project.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

Tension at the collection point<\/h2>

The project started by promoting camel farming in drought-prone Isiolo County \u2013 especially among ethnic groups that traditionally kept cattle. Camels are much more resistant to drought than cattle. The new camel owners have been trained in keeping camels, animal health and hygienic milking. As soon as the motorcycle couriers arrive in Isiolo, the women of the Anolei cooperative carry the milk canisters into a large building. The air inside is hot and stuffy, and the mood is tense. The milk \u2013 up to 3,000 litres on any given day \u2013 urgently needs to be cooled before it sours. But it must first be checked and admitted. Deliveries containing too many germs or an excessively high water content will be rejected. At 3 am the camel milk is loaded onto a refrigerated truck and taken to Nairobi, 300 km away. It arrives at Eastleigh Market by morning. Many Kenyans of Somali descent who live there prize camel milk.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

Bus transport denied<\/h2>

The cooperative bought a refrigerated truck with Biovision\u2019s support. Before that, milk had to be transported on the roof of public buses. When the crowds were too large, drivers would refuse to transport goods, leaving women with their perishable milk at the roadside. Camel milk had often soured by the time it arrived in Nairobi after hours of travelling under the hot sun. The proceeds from selling the milk go to the Anolei cooperative to cover storage and transport costs. The camel owners receive approximately 60 to 80 Kenyan shillings (KES) per litre of milk. Each animal can produce around 3 litres of milk daily, with the precise amount depending on the animal, its health and the season. During the approximately one-year lactation period of a mare, an owner can earn 40,000 to 80,000 KES (approx. 380 to 760 Swiss Francs) per camel. The owner\u2019s family also drinks some of the milk, which contributes to a healthier diet.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Thanks to camels, hundreds of shepherd families in barren north-east Kenya now have a better life. But it\u2019s not just them \u2013 the women of the Anolei Milk Cooperative also benefit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2750,"template":"","exclude-from-search":[],"newsletter":[],"region":[228],"projektthema":[454],"themen":[248],"class_list":["post-24934","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","region-sub-saharan-africa","projektthema-kamele-en","themen-agriculture-en"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-18 08:34:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"newsletter","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/24934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/24934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"exclude-from-search","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exclude-from-search?post=24934"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter?post=24934"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=24934"},{"taxonomy":"projektthema","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projektthema?post=24934"},{"taxonomy":"themen","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/themen?post=24934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}