Annual Report 2006/07 - ETH - North-South Centre North-South ...

ZIL research project, Phase VProject leadersChristophe Lacroix / Leo MeileContact personsZakaria Farah, Christoph Jans, ETHZurich / Murigu P. Kamau,Muhura Dasel, Univ. of Nairobi, KenyaCollaboratorsJakob Zinsstag, Swiss Tropical Institute,Basel / John Wangoh, Institute of FoodTechnology and Nutrition, Universityof Nairobi, KenyaDurationJune 2007 – June 2010ZIL research projectsLivestocksystemsresearchFood quality and public healthCamel milk products of high hygienic quality and safety,for increased income and reduced health risks in KenyaIn Kenya, camels play a central role as milk suppliers. Due tothe advancing urbanisation, camel milk is increasingly commercialisedand consumed in urban areas mainly in the formof fermented milk products. There are important publichealth concerns regarding the risk of commercialised camelmilk. In addition, there are considerable losses caused byfrequent spoilage due to the absence of appropriate conservationmethods.wastage and generation of additional income for the farmersand processors; (iii) regionally, the improved technologieswill offer possibilities for direct adaptation in other similarproduction and market systems in many parts of the continent.The project partners are the Department of Food Technologyand Nutrition at the University of Nairobi and the KenyanCamel Association.The overall objective of the project is to increase the addedvalue of camel milk through development of market-orientedfermented milk products of high quality and prolonged shelflife, creating income and improving (in the long term) thestandard of living in the region.This objective will be achieved through: (i) better knowledgeon the diversity of beneficial and pathogenic microorganismsof traditional fermented products, development of newstarter cultures and controlled fermentation processes fornew marketable camel milk products, all based on modernfood biotechnology and advanced microbiological methods;(ii) studies of the hygienic quality of camel milk on productionand marketing levels, and introduction of simpletechniques to improve the hygiene status on all levels. Theproject is being carried out by two doctoral students (Swissand Kenyan) and one Kenyan MSc student. The first milksample collection in Kenya was started in June 2007 togetherwith analyses carried out by the ETH student.One of the camel herds used for milk sample collection in Nanyuki, KenyaMilking camels: Milk samples are collected directly from the udderThe expected outputs are: (i) improved production processesand new product development; (ii) improved processing andhandling technologies impacting public health, reduced food39