African Officials Root For Camels In Fight Against Hunger, Climatic Stresses

NAIROBI, Xinhua: A regional forum to mark the International Year of Camelids opened here on Tuesday, with senior African officials underscoring the role of humped camels in fighting hunger, poverty and climatic shocks in the continent.

Convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the African Union InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), the three-day forum is expected to focus on how to improve livestock systems on the continent.

Home to over 80 percent of the world’s one-humped camels, Africa should leverage its abundance of this resilient herbivore to boost food and nutritional security in semi-arid land, dominated by pastoralists, said Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO assistant director-general and regional representative for Africa.

He called for a policy shift, investments in research and innovations to ensure that camels are placed at the heart of efforts to transform livestock systems in Africa, achieve climate resilience and sustainable development.

Moses Vilakati, the commissioner for agriculture, rural development, blue economy and sustainable environment at the African Union Commission, said that investing in camels and recognizing them at the policy level will help bridge the deficit in consumption of animal-based proteins across the continent.

According to Vilakati, Africa holds 14 percent of the world’s livestock resources, yet the continent produces only 2.8 percent of global meat and milk, with improved camel husbandry capable of turning the continent into a net exporter of animal-based proteins.

Besides their immense contribution to food security, rural incomes and labor, camels play a major role in regenerating dryland ecosystems and are an integral part of pastoralists’ cultural heritage, said Huyam Ahmed Mohammed Elamin Salih, the director of AU-IBAR.

Salih said that as symbols of resilience, camels could boost climate adaptation in arid and semi-arid regions, already reeling from recurrent droughts, water stress, and habitat loss.

Jonathan Mueke, principal secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said the country has 4.6 million camels, accounting for 13 percent of the global total, while the herbivore sustains livelihoods in 80 percent of land mass, which is classified as semi-arid.

Mueke urged African countries to address challenges facing camel husbandry, including diseases, weak market infrastructure and lack of veterinary services.