Recognizing their contribution to food security and nutrition, the United Nations, during its latest General Assembly, declared the International Year of Camelids in 2024 to support these species that the FAO describes as “key” for the development of the world’s most hostile regions. This declaration aims to raise awareness among the public, governments, and donors about the economic and social importance of camelids in communities of arid and desert regions. The International Year of Camelids would significantly contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. This would manifest notably through the promotion of SDG 1 aimed at eradicating poverty, support for SDG 2 in the fight against hunger, the endorsement of SDG 5 related to empowering women particularly in rural areas, as well as the support of SDG 15, which aims at the preservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems since camelids are well adapted to harsh environments where other livestock species can hardly survive.

Considered for a long time as a secondary product intended for self-consumption of pastoral societies, camel milk is nowadays experiencing a growing interest as a promising product both economically and socially. The prominence of camel milk is reflected by the continuous increase in global production that has accelerated over the past two decades. Further, the expanding demand driven by consumers’ enthusiasm for the therapeutic and nutritional virtues of camel milk is widely recognized. Camel milk is sold at a price that can reach up to six times cow’s milk price, attributing to dairy camel farming a certain comparative advantage despite modesty of milk productivity compared to other dairy species.

Nevertheless, the camel milk value chain in Tunisia, as in many other countries, is facing major constraints at its key stages (farming system an management, production, collection, packaging, processing, marketing, etc.). The persistent questions are: i) how to make camel milk available to consumers with respect of market standards? and ii) how to successfully transform this milk into derivative products on a larger scale? Resolving this issue can be ensured through the development of a quality camel industry, with stakeholders possessing a good understanding of best practices and ensuring a smooth functioning of all links in the value chain.
In Tunisia, a research program on the intensification of farming system and machine milking of camels has been initiated at the LEFS laboratory (IRA Medenine) since 2004. These efforts have been strengthened by several national and international projects, including the “PROCAMED” project (2012-2015) funded by the European Union, which aimed to promote innovative camel farming systems for a sustainable development of local sectors and the management of the Saharan territory in partner countries Tunisia and Egypt. Additionally, the PAQ Collabora project (2019-2022) that focused on the processing and packaging of camel milk and aimed to introduce high-quality fermented dairy products to the Tunisian market. This project was concluded by the first edition of the international seminar CAMILK organized in June 2022. Earlier, the MECAMEL project, aimed at promoting machine milking among small-scale breeders of dairy camels, that was launched in 2020.
In this context and on the occasion of the International Year of Camelids and the closure of MECAMEL project, the LEFS/IRA plans to organize the second edition of the international seminar CAMILK 2024: Fostering camel milk value chain: Challenges and future perspectives facing global changes, in partnership with the OEP and other organizations including FAO, GIZ, ICARDA, ILO, ACSAD…”