South Omo is an incredibly arid area, and with no rainfall for between nine and 11 months of the year so Dula must travel increasingly long distances to find grasslands for his livestock to graze on.

These journeys are too long for his children to manage, so they have to be left at home. With the cattle away, the children are left with no milk – the mainstay of the family’s diet.

Dula said: “We sometimes travel long distances to get milk for the children but it can only last for two days and the children are starving.”

Camel milk

Farm Africa’s solution to this problem was to introduce camels and the necessary training to care for them. Camels can withstand long periods of drought and survive on the leaves from trees near the family home when there is no other fodder available.

Dula contributed 10% of the cost of his first camel and a Farm Africa community development fund covered the rest. Dula’s dedication has paid off and he has bred two more camels, to provide milk for his family and to sell to earn money.

Drought

“My cattle stay at Ali area very far from our village because of drought but because of the introduction of camel now I do not have the problem of feeding my family in the absence of cattle.”