CAMEL HUSBANDRY AMONG PASTORALISTS IN DARFUR, WESTERN SUDAN

A study was conducted during 2003 in the Darfur states of Western Sudan, which focused on the socio-economic performance of nomadic camel owners and camel husbandry. These pastoralists keep camels mainly for generating income, social values, source of food, and transportation purposes. They fed their camels with salt and atron (a source of calcium), dissolved in drinking water and mash, to increase their endurance for long-distance movements and to increase body weight in harsh grazing and climatic conditions. These herders face problems such as shortage of water in desert areas, complicated inter-ethnic grazing access, and diseases and parasites, and reducing grazing areas in the Darfur region. The affect of drought on grazing areas have compelled there pastoralists to move southwards into the savannah zone during dry season. The study advocated the need to improve the administration and protection of the grazing lands based on national strategies and local cultural traditions.