Addis Ababa, March 13, 2006 – Though Ethiopia has a high population of camels, it has not benefited from it as desired due to the low attention given to it, according to an official with the Ministry   of   Agriculture and Rural Development.

Mulualem Tarekegn, team leader of epidemiology and diseases control with the ministry, told journalists on Sunday that though Ethiopia has over 1.3 million camels, much has not been done to exploit the resources.

Much has not been done to enable the country to generate foreign currency from the export of camels by keeping their health intact, Mulualem said.

Diseases attacking camels and smuggling have exposed the pastoral community, whose life depends mainly on camels, to extreme sufferings, he said.

A task force set up at a federal level to prevent camel diseases has been carrying out researches and studies in Afar, Somali, Oromia and Amhara states, Mulualem said.

She said medicinal drugs have been purchased and distributed among the members of the pastoral communities in the above- mentioned states.

The task force has also designed a three-year directive aimed soliciting aid from abroad and carry out researches and surveys on camel disease prevention, Mulualem said.

Source: Xinhua, Mar 13, 2006