A SURVEY ON CAMEL (CAMELUS DROMEDARIUS) PRODUCTION UNDER PASTORAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN NORTH–WEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

Camel is one of the most important livestock kept by few pastoralists of North–West, Nigeria. In order to come up with a report that will guide intending research fellows in the areas of feeding, water economy and management aspect, a survey was conduct in order to identify the immediate challenges of keeping camels in the study area. This involved the use of 241 randomly selected camel herders in four States (Jigawa, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto) of North–West, Nigeria. Therefore, the main aim of the study was to provide information on camel production systems and their contribution to different activities of the pastoralists and to identify the problems and constraints in camel feeding and management. Biodata of the respondents; camel management system, camel feeding strategy, water consumption and economy  sources and availability of water were among the detailed information collected during the study. Conclusively, the report came up with guided information that will help to improve the productivity, an opening to research opportunities and to exploit the potentials of camels.