Camels replace cows as #Kenya battles drought
“God, God, God, protect them,” chanted two herders, their eyes following a dozen #camels rushing toward acacia trees, oblivious to the dry riverbed in northern Kenya where it hasn’t rained since April, AFP reports.
Sitting on the edge of a nearby well, Chapan Lolpusike recounted how his cows and oxen “all died” in the worst drought in four decades, caused by a succession of poor rainfall in 2021 and 2022.
After that, the herder made a sweeping change. “We no longer have cattle at home. We only raise camels,” said Lolpusike, a member of the semi-nomadic Samburu community. Camels can graze on dry grasses, go more than a week without water, and produce up to six times more milk than cattle — making them an increasingly necessary option in northern Kenya, an area particularly vulnerable to climate change.
Samburu county officials launched a camel programme in 2015 following several droughts that killed off at least 70 percent of the cattle in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid regions. The die-off had a devastating impact on malnutrition among local pastoralists. Around 5,000 Somali camels — a larger and more productive breed than the native herd — have since been distributed, including 1,000 in the last year.
– Camels for every family –
Lolpusike, who previously knew nothing about camels, received some in 2023. In his manyatta — a hamlet of rectangular huts nestled in a shrubby savannah — a dozen camels lay peacefully chewing dry grass. The goal is for every family in the county to have their own, said village administrator James Lolpusike (no relation). “If the drought persists, the cattle will not be anywhere anymore,” he said.
Camel herds are at high risk of disease that could lead to losses. But there are clear, positive changes as they become a regular sight in the region, including healthier children, said the village administrator.
They are certainly popular in the community, particularly from the fact they can be milked up to five times a day. “Cows are only milked when the grass is green,” said Naimalu Lentaka, 40. “Camels… during the dry season, they are still milked, and that’s the whole difference.” Families now “depend on camels, on those who own them,” she added.
