Dromedary camels produce more milk for a longer period of time than any other milk animal held under the same harsh conditions. Produced milk is a primary source of some pastoralists’ food, nutrition and income security all year round. However, there are limited research efforts on exploiting camel milk potential and its promotion for consumption and marketing. Thus, a cross-sectional survey was conducted on 100 camel herders; nine traders and three cooperatives during March to April 2017 in Afar region of Ethiopia. Besides, discussions were held with district leaders, end consumers and local elders. Collected data were analysed using descriptive statistical tools, figures and diagrams. The survey result revealed that 56.6% camel herds were lactating. Milking was done by men twice (67%) and three times (33%) per day with an average of 4.2 L per camel. A total of 82% of the camel herders were marketers, and women were dominant. Camel herders sold an average of 14.3 L milk per day at an average price of USD 0.95 per litre, whereas middlemen sold an average of 35.8 L at USD 1.22 per litre. The milk trade was done at herders’ farm gate (18.3%), main road-sides (58.5%) and nearest towns (23.2%) using small plastic pots (68.3%) and plastic jerrycans (31.7%). Amongst the three marketing channels, 69.9% of the milk was directly sold to end consumers and fetched a higher price than other marketing channels, but the routes are limited to local markets. The camel herders perceived that they satisfied with milk for its nutritional, medicinal, social and economic values. Therefore, interventions need to focus on exploiting opportunities, addressing challenges/constraints in camel milk production and its marketing chain efficiency and effectiveness.

中文翻译：

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骆驼奶的生产和销售：埃塞俄比亚阿法尔的牧区

与在相同恶劣条件下饲养的任何其他奶牛相比，单峰骆驼在更长的时间内生产更多的奶。全年生产的牛奶是一些牧民粮食，营养和收入安全的主要来源。但是，在开发骆驼奶潜力及其促进消费和销售方面的研究工作有限。因此，对100名骆驼牧民进行了横断面调查。埃塞俄比亚阿法尔地区在2017年3月至4月期间有9个商人和3个合作社。此外，还与地区领导人，最终消费者和当地长者进行了讨论。使用描述性统计工具，图形和图表分析收集的数据。调查结果显示，有56.6％的骆驼群正在哺乳。男性每天要挤奶两次（67％）和三次（平均33次），挤奶次数是4次。每只骆驼2升。共有82％的骆驼牧民是商人，妇女占主导地位。骆驼牧民每天平均售出14.3升牛奶，平均价格为每升0.95美元，而中间商平均每天售出35.8升牛奶，为每升1.22美元。牛奶交易是在牧民的农场门口（18.3％），主要路边（58.5％）和最近的城镇（23.2％）进行的，它们使用的是小塑料罐（68.3％）和塑料便桶（31.7％）。在这三个营销渠道中，有69.9％的牛奶被直接出售给最终消费者，并获得了比其他营销渠道更高的价格，但这些路线仅限于本地市场。骆驼牧民认为他们对牛奶的营养，医学，社会和经济价值感到满意。因此，干预措施应着重于利用机会，