Camels in Sudan- Fortune, Culture, Elegance
03 March, 2013 KHARTOUM,(SUDANOW)—Camels, like other kinds of livestock, are part of the Sudan’s animal resources and constitute a source of social pride and pompousness on the part of their owners. For this reason, and despite their great numbers, their contribution to the national economy is very poor. Although camels are an important source of animal protein, this situation has changed of late as their milk has become common and they have been introduced in tourism activity.The Sudan is considered the world’s second largest in camel population. According to FAO census in 2006 the Sudan possesses 4,870,000 heads of camels, all one-humped.
It comes next to Somalia which possesses 7 million heads, with the two countries owning 55.4% of the world’s total 20 million heads of camels. The African Continent possesses 75% of the world’s camel population followed by Asia with 25% while, according to FAO, this kind of animal is non-existent in any other continent.According to the Arab League’s Arab Center for Studies of Dry and Arid Lands which is specialized in camel research and development, the Arab countries alone possess 60% of the world’s camel population
Camels exist in all of the Sudan’s 16 states in different numbers but they are found in much large numbers in the western states, particularly in North Kordofan which possesses the largest herd counting 605,000 heads, followed by West Kordofan with 411,200 heads, then the eastern states led by Kassala with 431,400 heads, followed by the Red Sea and Gedaref states and the last ones are Darfur, central and Northern states.Tremendous richness, abject poverty:The Sudan’s entire camel herd is owned by tribes and individuals, while the State possesses not a single camel. The majority of this wealth is owned by the Batahin, Shukriya, Rashaidah, Kawahlah, Beja, Hadandawah, Bene Amir, Kababish and Zudaidiyah tribes in east and west Sudan. Those tribes do not regard their herds as an economic wealth despite the prosperity they can make of them, but they take pride in them, boasting with their numbers, beauty and lineage and the more camels they own the more proud they become.This is manifested in the folklore poetry that includes thousands of poems on the elegance, lineage and names of camels, lauding their travel abilities and surmounting hardships. Poetry identifies tens of thorough-bred camels, both males and females, closely tended by their owners who gave them proper names and thus became famous throughout the Sudan. Some of those camels were immortalized by the poets of Butanah region and Batahin tribe, such as Salougi camel owned Abdulla wad Abusin, Bileeb of Ahmed wad Awad al-Kerim, Zarzour of Mahmoud wad Zayed, Darmas of Sharaf wad Abdul Sadek, Bangair of the famous Butanah poet Hardallu and Sahar al-Ghuroub of Taha al-Dharir (a brave blind-man who used to lead a gang specialized in robbing camels Camels are named after the tribes that breed them and the most famous kinds in the Sudan are the Bushari, Rufai, Bejawi, Rashaidi, Zubaidi, Kenani and Kabbashi. They are classified according to their productive or employment specialties; some of them are bred to produce meat. The camel that is intended for producing meat is characterized by a big body, a big head and a big hump, a long neck and big bones and is quick to fatten. Egypt is the biggest foreign camel market that imports more than 10,000 camels each month and each camel is sold there for a price ranging between 750 and 1,000 US dollars.The she-camel that produces milk is of a medium-size body, developed udder, well-shaped nipples and yields not less than 2,500 kilograms a year.The dual-purpose combines the characteristics of the meat- and milk-producing kind with a brown or bright-red colour and medium weight. The most famous of this kind is the Zubaidi. The hard-labor camel is characterized by a big head, a long neck, heavy shoulders, plump thighs and broad hoofs that help it travel for a long distance. The weight of the load it can carry depends on the distance, the terrain and the required speed as well as food and water available on the way.The best camels which are used for riding and racing purposes are found in areas that lie east of the Blue Nile and the Red Sea high-lands. They are fast, mostly white or off-white in colour. The speed of the riding camel is 8-10 k/p/h for 50 kilometers a day, while the race-camel speed is about 16 k/p/h for a short distance. Most of such camels are exported to the Arab Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.Government Negligence:Dr. Adam Hajj Mussa Darousah, veterinarian and former chairman of the Sudanese Shepherds Union, said: the life of the camel breeders and herders in the Sudan is characterized by basic features that played important roles in their future and their wealth. The most important of these features is the continued mobility is search for good pasture and much water, in line with the common style of grazing in the Sudan before expansion in the mechanized farming and establishment of vast investment projects. This made the nomadic herders lose such basic services as education, health and potable water in addition to social seclusion and confinement within a community of limited customs, education and knowledge.The veterinarian added that lack of alternative living means poses another problem due to the instability, particularly in the case of poor performance of the animal like the cases of drought and desertification that hit many regions of the Sudan in 1984, driving the shepherds into displacement around the towns experiencing circumstances they were not used to. Other negative problems resulted from friction between the shepherds and farmers during movement by the former in summer and autumn.Sticking to production habits also posed another problem that was difficult to change, as the herd continued to be looked at only as a social asset, without developing it into an active economic factor but was inherited by generations and kept as a source of subsistence and a social appearance and supervised only by the head of the family. The formal and government negligence of the shepherds and leaving them to suffer and resist the natural circumstances and climatic changes the shepherds and their herds are still suffering from. The successive governments have not offered them services of planning, modernization and employment Dr. Hassan Mohamed Nor and Dr. Hadia Osman Idriss of the Ministry of Animal and Fish Resources explain that the camel herders complain that their revenue solely comes from selling them as animals because all the camel products of meat, milk, hide, hair and even their use as means of transport are experiencing recession and low demand by the Sudanese people leading to limitation of their markets. Yet, there is a high demand for the camel meat and milk in Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, which means that there are promising opportunities of exportation that can be of an economic benefit to the Sudan. Moreover, there is a worldwide concern for food products of low fats. Nor and Idriss added that during 1996-2005 camel exports earned around 11 million US dollars as an annual average which is around 10% of a total annual animal exports average of 113 million US dollars. Camels also contribute to food security for a considerable number of citizens, producing an annual 81,000 tons (6%) of the country’s total red meats, which means that they constitute a basic element of the Sudan’s self-sufficiency in such meats. Although the rate of camel milk production, an annual average of 42,000 tons, compared to the milk production of other animals (1%), it constitutes the main food for their breeders who live in arid desert and in villages and rural areas near the herders camps. They constitute the solely available source of milk during the dry summer months when other animals cease to produce milk. In urban centers, some people demand camel milk as a remedy from some diseases like diabetes, quick wound healing, colds, particularly respiratory infections. Others prefer camel milk for its low fats to avoid high blood cholesterol. Tourism, sports, marketing:Like many other things, the status of camels and their shepherds began to change. The Animal Resources Minister in Gedaref State, Osama Mohamed Al-Hassan Darzoun said: During the annual Butanah camp which is organized for animal vaccination, especially cattle and which ended last November, the State embarked on tourism activity to make the best use of the animal wealth. The camp comprises almost all social and political spectra and includes cultural programmes in addition to an exhibition of the pastoral tribes of the region and sports events, camel races and cultural competition in which musical troupes take part. Meanwhile, the Arab Center for Studies on Dry Regions and Arid Lands began implementing an executive programme of the first phase of a project for the development, production and marketing camel milk in the Sudan. The project is aimed at increasing the income, mitigating poverty and improving food security in the pastoral communities by optimum utilization of the camel milk. The first phase of the project includes studies on the situation of producing and marketing camel milk in the Sudan and other participating countries, as a similar project is being implemented in each of Morocco and Algeria.The Director General of the Center, Dr. Rafiq Ali Salih said the main purpose of the project which is implemented by the Center and financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Developmen (IFAD) is to develop production and marketting of camel milk so as to increase the income of small breeders. The success of the project in the three countries will contribute to its expansion to cover other arab countries, he added. Darousa suggested that in order to change the situation of the camels and camel breeders, the entire situation should be reconsidered to find out the fault that has occurred in this sector and lay down a vision and a plan for check this deterioration and improve the production. The camel breeders should be given pastoral farms and assist them find additional sources of income to help protect the national herd. The camel breeders should also be assi8sted to ease living hardships in addition to providing them with education and health services in addition potable water on their routes. 
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