Milk Preservation and Storage in Ethiopia and Rural Kenya

Elia Mugendi Njeru

Nairobi, Kenya

Milk Storage in Ethiopia

The one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) plays an important role as a primary source of subsistence in the lowlands of Ethiopia. It lives in areas which are not suitable for crop production and where other livestock species hardly thrive. Because of its outstanding performance in the arid and semi-arid areas of eastern lowlands of Ethiopia where browse and water are limited, pastoralists rely mainly on camels for their livelihood. In these areas, camels are mainly kept for milk production and produce milk for a longer period of time even during the dry season when milk from cattle is scarce (Bekele et al 2002). Ethiopia possesses over 1 million dromedary camels which stands the country third in the world (FAO 2002). The majority of these camels are found in the eastern part of the country.

The annual camel milk production in Ethiopia is estimated to be 75, 000 tones (Felleke 2003). It is often reported that surplus of camel milk is produced in the country during the rainy season. Although not studied in depth as compared to milk of other domestic animals, so far a lot of information has been reported about camel milk from different countries. However, despite the important contribution of camel milk to pastoralists living in the lowlands of the country, little is known about the properties and keeping quality of camel milk at the high ambient temperatures prevailing at the production areas nor is reported about traditional handling practices, preservation methods, traditional camel milk products, types of spoilage and shelf life of camel milk in Ethiopia in general and in Shinile and Jijiga zones in particular.

Understanding of the traditional handling practices, preservation methods and utilization of camel milk will help to design appropriate strategies and measures which could be used to increase camel milk production and improve the quality of camel milk and camel milk products in the area. This study was, therefore, aimed at addressing the traditional handling practices, preservation methods and utilization of camel milk and camel milk products in Shinile and Jijiga zones of eastern Ethiopia.
Now these Ethiopians as well as Kenyan faces the same problem in storage facilities, A major problem that has seen many waste their expensive products.

But this method of preserving milk is simple, affordable and materials are locally available locally.

REQUIREMENTS

Charcoal dust

Water

Old iron sheets

Cardboards