干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

In the Arid and Semi-Arid lands of Kenya upto half a million primary school children have received supplementary food provided by the World Food Programme. The sustainability of this exercise has been called into question and community based alternatives were sought. Health workers at the African Medical Research Foundation and the Africa Inland Church identified inadequate milk supplied from cattle as contributory factor to poor attendance and performance at a Maasai and a Samburu school. FARM-Africa was requested to supply female camels so as to provide supplementary milk as needed. Four schools have been assisted to date with 48 camels most of which were females. Monitoring of the performance of the camels at three of the schools (all in the FARM working area in Marsabit District) has been carried out and the results are presented. During school vacations milk is either sold to nearby residence and the proceeds used for school bursaries or it is preserved by condensation for use during the next term. This paper presents the results of chemical analysis of the condensed milk product indicating that the loss of some proteins and vitamin A during preparation are the major points of concern. Suggestions for its improvement are made. The school milk scheme using camel milk is popular and FARM-Africa is currently seeking funds to supply six more schools which have applied for assistance.