Cost of production, marketing and revenue generation from somali camel breed in Isiolo and Marsabit counties of northern Kenya

摘要

ThisstudywascarriedoutinIsioloandMarsabitCountiesofnorthernKenyatounderstandthemarketingandprofitabilitypotentialofSomalicamelrearedformilkandbeef.Thestudyinvolvedasurveywhere91and120randomlyselectedrespondentswereindividuallyinterviewedinIsioloandMarsabit,respectivelyusingasemi-structuredquestionnaire.ThedatawasanalyzedusingtheIBMSPSSwhereindependentsamplest-testwascarriedoutonquantitativedatawhile,descriptivestatisticswerecarriedforthequalitativedataandtestforsignificancedoneusingchi-square.MarketpriceforcamelsrangedfromKES.12,500formalecalvesunderoneyeartoKES.97,143formaturefemalesandwerewithintherangereportedbyotherresearchers.ThepriceswerehigherinIsiolothanMarsabitformaturemaleswhichsoldforKES.55,971±3,637andKES.39,682±3,333(p=0.038)respectively,butnotinotheragecategories.Majorityoftherespondents(90.6%,n=77)inIsioloestimatedmarketvalueofcamelsbeforetakingtothemarketcomparedto67.7%(n=65)inMarsabit,suggestingIsiolopastoralistswerekeentoknowthemarketvaluebeforetakingcamelstothemarket.Thecommonlyusedmethodforestimatingmarketvalueofcamelswasocularassessmentofthebodysizeincombinationwithmarketinformation.Isiolopastoralistsspentmoremoneyoninputssuchasantibiotics,acaricidesand,herdinglaborandalsosoldmoremilkthantheirMarsabitcounterparts(p=0.049).Intermsofrevenuegeneration,pastoralistsweremakingKES.10,292and4,888everymonthinIsioloandMarsabit,respectivelyfromsaleoflivecamelsandthemilk.ThefastexpandingcommercialrearingofSomalicamelsinperi-urbanIsioloandMarsabitwasprofitabletopastoralists.Therehoweverappearedtobeavariancebetweenactualmarketvalueofcamelsandthepriceofferedtofarmersinthemarketsuggestingsomedegreeofexploitationbymiddlemenalthoughnodatawascollectedfromthemiddlementovalidatethisopinion.ConsideringtheKES.10,000pastoralistsweregettinginIsiolowasbasedonthetraditionalmanagementofthecamel,itmeansthepotentialprofitabilityofcommercialrearingofthecamelismuchhigherandcouldbeexploitedthroughtrainingonimprovedcamelmanagementtechnologies.