Global camel milk industry: A comprehensive overview of production, consumption trends, market evolution, and value chain efficiency

The global camel population is steadily increasing, with a notable increase in the proportion of camels specifically raised for milk production. This rise is mainly attributed to the surge in demand for camel milk, driven by its distinctive nutritional benefits and recognized health effects. However, studying the global dairy camel sector can provide valuable insights into the development of successful and modernized camel dairy industries, highlighting key strategies for scaling production, improving quality standards, and expanding market reach. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the global evolution of the dairy camel sector. It begins with an analysis of current production levels, consumption patterns, and a detailed examination of camel milk markets and value chain dynamics. Additionally, the camel milk industry faces currently critical barriers related to food hygiene, and limited government support, which hinder quality control and market growth. To address these challenges, a number of potential solutions were proposed such as the implementation of solar-powered cold chains, the necessity for effective training in hygiene and food safety for producers, and the need for investment in infrastructure and climate resilience in order to guarantee the long-term sustainability of the camel milk sector. Hence, this review is supposed to fill the current scarcity of information regarding the status and ongoing developments in the camel milk market, with a particular emphasis on the constraints limiting its growth. By addressing this gap, it seeks to serve as valuable groundwork for producers, industry stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers, thus fostering the development of the camel milk sector

Improvement of iron and β-Carotene bioaccessibility in complementary foods: Biofortification of local crops With organic residual products and microorganisms

Micronutrient deficiencies remain a great public health challenge worldwide with iron, zinc, and vitamin A being the most problematic. It has been shown that biofortification through agronomic strategies can increase their micronutrient content, but data on the bioavailability remain limited. In Senegal, consumption of cereals and legumes is high, and orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP), rich in β-carotene, has been introduced a decade ago. The objective of the present work was to assess the bioaccessibility of iron, zinc, and β-carotene in local complementary foods prepared with millet, cowpea, and OFSP alone or in combination, produced using different agronomic biofortification strategies. Organic residual products were used alone or in combination with microorganisms to produce the abovementioned crops that were used to prepare the complementary foods. Static in vitro digestion was performed to assess the bioaccessibility of the micronutrients, according to a harmonized protocol. The two organic residual products had different effect, as the cow dung alone was inefficient to increase iron and zinc contents as well as their bioaccessibility in millet porridges. However, the use of poultry litter alone or in combination with microorganisms increased iron bioaccessibility in cooked cowpea (27%–29%) compared to the non-biofortified counterpart (9%). Surprisingly, bioaccessible β-carotene was significantly higher (4.1%) in sample of mashed OFSP biofortified with the combination of the different agronomic strategies than in the others (1.4%–2.5%). Portions (150 g) of porridge prepared from the three biofortified crops would cover up to 100% of the daily vitamin A requirements of children aged 6–23 months. The use of a combination the most promising varieties of crops, together with the agronomic strategies, would be a complementary approach to sustainability limit micronutrient deficiencies in a context of monotonous diets

Reusing data for development: Lessons learned from an agricultural observatory in Madagascar

We examine the issue of data reuse to bridge the data gap needed for advancing agricultural and rural development in Africa. We present the contributions of an observatory project in Madagascar—a low-income country with weak statistical capacity—and the lessons learned regarding its feasibility, challenges, and relevance. We argue that leveraging existing data to foster sustainable development in a key sector such as agriculture is achievable and depends largely on promoting collaborative academics and public-private partnerships

Les consommateurs : frein ou levier pour le développement d'une filière ovine en zone contaminée par le chlordécone en Guadeloupe ?

En Guadeloupe, un tiers des sols a été durablement contaminé par un pesticide organochloré, le chlordécone, suite à son utilisation contre le charançon noir du bananier (Cosmopolite sordidus) jusqu'au début des années 1990. Cette contamination des sols a en retour impacté différents maillons de la chaîne alimentaire et notamment les animaux d'élevage qui se contaminent en ingérant des particules de sol ou du fourrage contaminé lors du pâturage, mais aussi en ingérant de l'eau contaminée ; ils ne sont alors plus commercialisables si la limite maximale de résidu en chlordécone est atteinte. Les possibilités de diversification des systèmes de production via l'élevage ou plus récemment de contrôle de l'enherbement par les ovins, notamment dans les bananeraies, sont alors fortement contraintes. Des travaux ont démontré qu'il était possible de décontaminer les animaux via une production hors sol. Mais la perception du consommateur vis-à-vis de cette viande issue de la décontamination reste inconnue et soulève la question de l'acceptation dans le cas où ce type de filière viendrait à se développer. Pour répondre à cette problématique, un questionnaire auprès de 309 consommateurs a été réalisé. Les résultats montrent que les consommateurs seraient prêts à consommer une viande ovine décontaminée, mais qu'il existe une défiance vis à vis des structures en charge du contrôle à l'abattoir

Status of Hiptage benghalensis (L.) Kurz (Malpighiaceae). A review

Hiptage benghalensis (L.) Kurz (Malpighiaceae) is a perennial woody vine originating from the Indochinese rainforest. The vine is invasive in the majority of areas where it has been introduced and is a major biological concern, recognized by the IUCN as one of the 100 most invasive species in the world. Invasions of H. benghalensis cause severe negative impacts on the biodiversity of the areas it colonizes, particularly the Mascarene Islands, which are among the world's top biodiver- sity hotspots. Current management strategies, which include herbicides and mechanical control, are not sustainable and alternatives are urgently needed. This review aims to summarize the existing knowledge on H. benghalensis, covering aspects such as taxonomy, description, origin and geographical distribution, biology, ecology, associated habitats and biocenosis, economic importance and management. This essential information will help inform the development of a classical biological control program to assist in the management of the plant

Sequence Demarcation Tool (SDT), a free user-friendly computer program using pairwise genetic identity calculations to classify nucleotide or amino acid sequences

Sequence Demarcation Tool (SDT) is a free user-friendly computer program that has been adopted by many geminivirologists as a means of robustly and reproducibly using pairwise genetic identity calculations to classify geminivirus whole genome sequences. As input SDT takes unaligned sequences and it outputs publication quality pairwise identity plots and color-coded distance matrices. Whereas the distance plots are useful for guiding the establishment of strain, species or genus demarcation thresholds that will yield minimal classification conflicts, the distance matrices aid the classification of sequences according to the taxonomic demarcation criteria of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Accordingly, over the past 10 years, SDT has been extensively used for the establishment of new genera in the family Geminiviridae and for the classification of hundreds of new species within individual geminivirus genera

Trace of change: How stigmergy maps social learning loops in Companion Modeling through participatory simulation

This study explored integrating stigmergy in Companion Modeling (ComMod) to enhance social learning loops (SLL) in participatory natural resource management. Taking a case study from the Ferlo region of Senegal, the research focuses on how stigmergy – a concept derived from biology involving indirect coordination through environmental traces – stimulates and documents cognitive, normative, and relational changes among stakeholders. By leaving digital traces during the iterative development of an Agent-Based Model (ABM), stigmergy support participants in co-constructing the model representing local agro-sylvo-pastoral dynamics. The paper highlights the role of stigmergy in fostering trust, knowledge sharing, and collaboration among diverse stakeholders and research team in a ComMod process, helping to refine the collective strategies aimed at sustainable land management. This research showed that stigmergic imprints can be used as a tool for monitor how learning and model development evolve during iterative modeling workshops, contributing to more adaptive and resilient resource governance strategies