Year: 2014 | Month: June | Volume 4 | Issue 1
Peri-urban Camel (Camelus dromendarius) Production System in Saudi Arabia: A note
Abstract: Several livestock production systems, ranging from nomadic, semi-nomadic, transhumant, agro pastoral to different forms of sedentary small holder and large scale commercial units ,exist in Africa and Asia. Several factors natural or man-made, beside some socio-economic changes have caused resources degradation and resulted in production systems disruption. In Saudi Arabia camel plays multiple central roles to livelihood and culture of the nomadic people notably provision of milk, meat , race and coat purposes, and source of income from sale of live camel and camel show (Mazayen) .Thus ,camels play an important role in this country. Camel production system in Saudi Arabia was affected by the socio-economic changes that took place after the petroleum era which attracts the Bedouins to settle in urban areas. With the aid of cars and vehicles, they can look after their herds around cities and towns where they live nowadays, in addition to the increasing demand in camel milk by growing urbanized population, stimulating the development of peri-urban camel dairy production. Systems of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) take many forms in terms of integration of different activities, production intensities and production orientations. The present study is aimed at a refined characterization of the diversity in terms of production orientation, resource endowments and production strategies of the different types camel production with special emphasis on peri-urban camel production system in Saudi Arabia
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