A Report on the Camel Milk Marketing Clusters in ... - ELMT Home

CARE KENYA/SITE NOV 2009
iii Transportation Plastic
containers
iv Milk Testing Mouth (for
equipment tasting)
v Heat treatment -Threestoned
fire
place,
Sufurias
-Plastic
containers
vi Milk Measuring Plastic jugs
equipment Plastic cups
Hard to clean Aluminium or Ashut
Eng 1,292 -
& sterilize s/steel milk can Ltd, 2100
Not durable
Kaluworks
Ltd,
Kengrow Ltd
Risk of Milk testing Monks 10,000
diseases toolkit
Laboratories
-Heat loss Energy jiko Artisans 35,000
-Delayed Aluminium can- See above 4500 -
heating 25 lts, 50 lts
6500
-Bursting Metal sleeve Jua kali 3,500
-Hard to clean Aluminium milk Ashut Eng 700
-Contamination scoops/pints Ltd
i. Milking Equipment
The pastoralist communities regard camel milk as a vey valuable food with both nutritional and
acclaimed therapeutic properties. The milk is therefore harvested and stored using traditional
wooden containers and gourds, which have been previously smoked with a firebrand of a special
herb. This special herb gives the milk a special flavour and also preserves it.
The wooden milking containers are also valued by the pastoral community as part of their
cultural heritage. They are crafted from locally available trees by gifted craftsmen in the
community.
Milk producers close to town like in Raya trading point are using plastic milking buckets instead
of wooden ones. They said the plastic containers are easier to clean and keep the milk for long
compared to the wooden ones. However, the milk producers realized that if the lid of the plastic
bucket is firmly put in place during milk storage; the milk gets spoilt because the plastic
container insulates all the heat causing milk fermentation.
Aluminium/stainless steel milking buckets are easy to clean and sterilize and would be most
appropriate to replace the wooden containers for better milk quality. They are available locally
and also imports from India. Their cost may be out of reach for immediate purchase by the milk
producers and collectors but they can save money over time and buy them. However, as they
save towards buying them, they may consider the use of soot less aluminium sufurias for milking
since they are widely available in the local market and are easy to clean and sterilize. Cleaning
the milk containers properly without smoking them will immediately result in high quality milk
acceptable to other communities.
ii. Storage Equipment for camel milk
Wooden milking container S/steel aluminium bucket
Assignment <strong>Report</strong> under ELMT compiled by SITE
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