Preliminary study: Valorization of camel milk through improved feeding with by-products and development of high potential dairy products
Swiss partners
- Berner Fachhochschule BFH: Pascale Waelti Maumier (main applicant), Sarah Guidi, Guillaume Egli, Nancy Bourgeois, Mario Arcari
Partners in the MENA region
- Université Ibn Zohr, Maroc: Said Gharby (main applicant), Khalid Majourhat, Otmane Hallouch, Hasna Ait Bouzid
Presentation of the project
The Drâa-Tafilalet region in south-eastern Morocco is one of the country’s poorest. Here, and in the Saharan desert regions of Morocco in general, camels are a major income source for the nomad population, but the droughts are making it difficult because of the lack of natural feed. This project is the preliminary study to evaluate the feasibility and understand the needs and production challenges of all stakeholders in the camel-milk value chain a of a project focusing on (1) Development of a camel feed based on argan, tomatoes and watermelon by-products to compensate for the lack of natural feed; (2) Valorization of the camel milk with the development of new dairy products; (3) Development of a centralized production site in the form of a cooperative (preferably for women). This grant allowed the team from Switzerland to work with the team from Morocco to perform an extended value chain analysis to u of this full bigger study.
During this first phase, a market analysis and focus group discussions with potential consumers from three different cities were performed to understand the camel milk perception from the consumers and target the development of camel dairy products with the highest market potential. There results showed that camel milk had a very healthy reputation and that consumer would be ready to pay more than for cow’s milk if the nutritional benefits were well advertised. The main barrier to consumption is the availability of the milk.
Some focus group discussions were also realized with different kinds of camel keeper: from the nomad to the sedentary breeders. The goal was to understand the production challenges, possibilities, and solutions for producers as well as their interest to use agricultural side stream as a feeding possibility. The discussion showed some openness from the breeders to feed their camels with agricultural side stream as long as the feed is healthy for them.
Finally, discussions with agricultural producers were also realized to understand what the side streams are used for today, what are the possibilities and interest of the producers for the future. The results showed that at the moment, nothing is done with the waste, and their would be an interest to use these wastes for further use.
This preliminary study showed the promise of this project and to understand the camel milk value chain, the conditions, the context, the possibilities, and the challenges in the camel milk sector. The team will be able to base their future proposal on the results gathered during this first part to be able to continue the project. The next step consists in the development of camel feel based on side streams.
Article published in Sustainability