After the ban of camel trading in Rajasthan by declaring the camel as a state animal, the camel herders have decreased the number of camels they were keeping. There has been a steady decline in the population of camel, since then. Government data estimated a drop in 35% in the number of camels from 2012 to 2019.
This ban has also impacted the camel trade between the breeders in Kutch. As they could no longer sell their camels in Rajasthan, which was the main market for them. The ban in Rajasthan indirectly threatened the livelihoods of the camel pastorals of Kutch.
Industrialisation, mining and the invasion of Prosopis juliflora had diminished the grazing fields causing decrease in the camel population in Kutch.
Since they can’t trade camels, selling of the milk was the only option left for the camel pastorals. The camel milk market was very informal and pastorals used to sell milk locally.
Sahjeevan tried to intervene and bought together AMUL and a private enterprise like Aadvik to sell the camel milk in the main stream dairy market. Today, around 5000 litres of camel milk is procured everyday form the Kutch region of Gujarat, securing the livelihoods of those involved in camel pastoralism.
Camels in the Indian Landscape
Camels are extraordinary animals well-adapted to surviving in arid regions. They can manage for days without drinking water and eats herbs and thorny plants grown in deserts. The physical features of the camel suit them in the desert climate and also prevents sand from entering their bodies. In India there are mostly two types of camel variants, the single-humped variety known as the dromedary, and, the other variety called Bactrian or double humped camels in the Ladakh region of India.
The arid and seasonally arid regions of the Western India have been a breeding ground for camels for thousands of years with Rajasthan having the largest number in India followed by Gujarat.
The Camel Breeds of Kutch
The Kutchi and the Kharai are the two camel breeds of Kutchi. The rangelands of these two breeds differ from each other. The Kutchi camels live on terrestrial ecosystem, which includes forests, wastelands, agricultural land and wetlands and feed on large and small trees, shrubs, under-shrubs, climbers and herbs.
The Kharai breed is restricted to places in and around the coastal belts (i.e., Mundra, Abdassa, Lakhpat, and Bhachau) and feeds primarily on mangroves and other associated saline plant species. The grazing resources extend from gauchars and revenue common lands to forest areas.
Camel Pastoralism in Kutch
There are about 350 camel herding families from the Rabari, Jat and Sama pastoralist communities in Kutch and Aliyabet (a region in Jamnagar) and they own the most of the camels in the region. Camel herding is nomadic and differs from other livestock. The migration of the pastorals also differs from one person to the other.
The Kharai camels graze on the mangroves for the most part of the year. In monsoons, the pastorals migrate to bet. There they have abundance of feed for their camels.In winters they migrate to Chhari Dhandh, the largest fresh water body in Kutch. The Kutch camels herders on the other hand migrate to the different parts of Gujarat throughout the year.
Monsoon is the season for sowing and agriculture so the camel herders move to wastelands and forests. Penning is also at stay during this season. These herders use the traditional routes for migration and forms ties with the farmers on their route.
The Fakirani Jats who herd Kharai camels treat their camels as their family members and take utmost care of them. Most pastoral communities believe that camel herding is a mandate from God. This is one of the important reasons why camel pastoralism has survived in Kutch.
Camel Breeding and Management
Every herd consists of one adult male, one younger male which is trained to mate in future, baby camels which form about 40% of the herd size and adult female camels. The breeding male camel is chosen based on various factors like height, hump size and skin type. The male camels are sold usually when they are one year old . And the breeding male camels are replace once in three years.
Breeding season starts in monsoons and young ones are also born in the same season. It’s a critical time for herders to take care of their camels. Each female camel spends a year in pregnancy and a year nursing the young camels. So they mate only once in two years.
Challenges in Camel Herding
Industrialisation and Mining
Kutch saw a great boom in industries after the 2001 earthquake. The camel herders are dependent on the commons and these commons now belong to the industries. Because of these industries, the camel herders have lost the access to the natural resources making the camel herding very challenging.
Reduction in Mangroves Coverage
Many ports and industries that have come up in Kutch have erected their infrastructure on creeks by blocking the flow of water. This has led to the dying of mangroves down stream. Since Kharai camel mainly feed on these mangroves, the decrease in the overall mangroves cover made it hard for the camel herders to maintain big herds.
Protected Areas
The government have started notifying areas in Kutch as protected areas and stopped the camel herders from entering these places.
Ban on Camel Selling
The government of Rajasthan has declared the camel as the state animal and banned the movement of camels in and out of the state. Usually, the camel herders used to take these camels to fairs in Rajasthan and sell them. But after the ban, the demand and price for the camels have declined.
Camels’ Conservation and its Need in India
Camels graze on large rangelands on various species of plants and grass. Unlike cattle, camels spread over large area while grazing. This feeding practise of the camels do not degrade the vegetation cover. Also these camels grazing in rangelands help in dispersing various seeds they feed on and help in sustaining the genetic biodiversity of flora in these landscapes.
FAO, underlining the significance of this livestock called them the guardians of the biological biodiversity. Hence in a landscape like Kutch where there are deserts, mangroves, lakes, grasslands it is necessary to conserve the camel pastoralism in order to conserve the biodiversity of the region.
Due to the collapse of the camel meat market and change in agricultural patterns, India saw 70% decline in camel population.
As per 2012 livestock census, the number of camels in India were 0.4 million which is 60% less than the camel population in 1992. India saw an overall decline of 75% in camel population between 1992 and 2019. The state of Rajasthan saw 71% decline where as the state of Gujarat saw 60% decline in the between the years 1992 and 2019. This numbers stressed for the need of conservation efforts in the state of Gujarat.
Formation of KUUMS
In the year 2009, Sahjeevan started working with the camel pastorals of Kutch with an aim to revive the camel pastoralism and conserve the biodiversity of the Kutch region. It initially started to organise the camel herders and bring them together to one platform. After continuous efforts of the team members and the aagevans, the community formed Kutch Unt Ucherak Maldhari Sangathan (KUUMS) — a community based organisation. The pastorals from the Rabari, Sama and Jat communities came together and joined the collective.
Initially the role of the Sahjeevan was to handhold the KUUMS through the various government procedure, organising the meetings, training the members of the collective and organising the exposure visits.
The first major thing the KUUMS and Sahjeevan took up were to register Kharai camel as a separate breed. This was necessary for the conservation of this peculiar breed of camels. KUUMS, Sahjeevan, the Animal Husbandry department and Anand Agricultural University collaborated and submitted the application for the breed recognition in NBAGR (National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources).
A document called ‘Breed descriptor’ is submitted to NBAGR for the breed recognition. The field team of Sahjeevan collected the data from more than hundred Kharai camels of various herders. These camels were tagged for easy identification. The breed descriptor document contains the information about physical characteristics, reproductive characteristics, hair production and diary performance of the Kharai camels.
This breed descriptor document was then forwarded by the Animal husbandry department to NBAGR. After the painstaking efforts of KUUMS and Sahjeevan, the Kharai camel was recognised as a distinct camel breed. After this recognition, the Animal husbandry department helped KUUMS to organise a ‘Camel mela’ to promote camel pastoralism in Kutch.
Establishment of Milk Value Chain
Camels graze on different varieties of grass and trees and their milk is rich with nutrients. Camel milk is highly valued in middle east but in India the consumption was limited to camel breeders only. Until 2016 camel milk not recognised as an edible food item in India. Since the market for the camel meat diminished, Sahjeevan and KUUMS decided to work on camel milk-based livelihood.
The first step was to begin advocacy to classify the camel milk as edible with the help of Animal husbandry department. In 2014, the government of Gujarat applied for the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to classify the camel milk as a food item.
Since it was under process, Sahjeevan and KUUMS started working on establishment of back-end infrastructure for the camel milk-based economy. As there were no facilities to procure, process and market the camel milk. They organised a Stake-holder meeting in the city of Anand. The Director of Animal husbandry department and the managing director of Amul attended the meeting. The community took several important decisions that day.
From Recognition to Production
The recognition of camel milk as an edible food item was a long and a complex process. KUUMS played a vital role during this whole process. It collected the samples from 156 camels across the Kutch district and developed a book with pictorial representation of the medicinal properties of the camel milk.
In the year 2016, FSSAI issued a formal notification certifying camel milk as a food product during the Living Lightly exhibition in Delhi. At the same time Aadvik Ltd. started procuring camel milk from Nakhatrana block.
In the year 2017, Sarhad starts procuring the camel milk from Kutch and launches camel products into the market. Amul established two Bulk milk chillers in Kutch for camel milk procurement. In 2019 Amul started bottling the camel milk and started selling it across Gujarat.
Regeneration of Grazing Pastures
Industrialization, mining, urbanization and the invasion of Prosopis Juliflora have created pressure on the existing grazing resources in kutch. Sahjeevan, KUUMS and the government of Gujarat came together to protect these resources. Firstly, season wise grazing routes were mapped, biodiversity of the region was studied and gram sabhas were trained about the FRA. Sahjeevan facilitated the villages in submitting FRA claims, with KUMMS, regenerated various water bodies in order to conserve the grazing pastures.
Promoting Pastoralism by Living Lightly exhibitions
In order to create awarness among the general public, Sahjeevan and KUUMS organised Living Lightly exhibition for the first time in 2016. The public received it well and participated enthusiastically in the second edition in the year 2017 . The third edition of the Living Lighlty happened in the 2022 and the fourth edition is scheduled to happen in 2024.
With these continuous efforts of Sahjeevan from forming a CBO to nurturing it, working on the livelihoods of the camel pastorals and regeneration of grazing pasture, Sahjeevan has successfully conserved the camel pastoralism in Kutch. The price of the female camels doubled in these years. The young members of the pastoral communities have started leaving their jobs in cities and coming back to camel pastoralism.
PS: The employees of Sahjeevan have provided the pictures used in the article.
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