When camel cross borders, so can peace and prosperity
In August 2026, communities from Kenya and Ethiopia held the first-ever cross-border camel caravan in Moyale. The 12-km caravan celebrated the role of camels to these communities and revived Qumbi, a traditional peace ceremony that was last performed 40 years ago.
For generations, communities living along the Kenya-Ethiopia border – including the Borana, Gabra, Gare, Burji, Sakuya and Somali have shared grazing lands, languages, cultures, trade, and a way of life built around livestock as their primary source of food and income. Yet the region has also lived with recurring conflict, competition over resources and the disruption that insecurity brings to families and communities. For three days in August 2026, representatives of these communities, from Kenya and Ethiopia, came together for the first-ever cross-border camel caravan in Moyale. Along with 12-kilometre journey, came cultural dances and songs, community dialogues, and unique cultural practices, while celebrating the role of camels in their communities. The caravan revived a long forgotten cultural peace practice called Qumbi. Prior to the caravan, the Borana and Gabra communities conducted this intercommunal peace ceremony, which involves among others, exchange of customary incense, to bring peace and harmony to the region. The Qumbi ceremony was last held forty years ago. The caravan was officially flagged off by Mr. Benedict Munywoki, Deputy County Commissioner, Moyale Sub-County, Kenya, and Mr. Galma Koropicha, Mayor of Moyale Town, Ethiopia.
During the caravan, they planted fruit trees in schools and hospitals.
“These fruit trees are permanent footprints and a reminder for the communities and institutions that hosted the caravan,” explains Bethlehem Abebe of IGAD CEWARN
Through the caravan, communities shared traditions and heritage and rebuilt connections. For women, it was an opportunity to highlight the economic power of an animal they rely on every day. For young people, it offered a glimpse of new businesses that can grow from pastoralism.
More than just an animal
For pastoral families, camels have multiple uses. Asli Ali Dido, a camel owner from Butie, in Moyale Sub-County explains.
“Camels provide milk, even when other sources of food are scarce. It is sold in case of medical emergencies or to pay school fees. It is a means of transport for children, the sick and the elderly people and for carrying household belongings during migration in search of pasture and water.
Because camels have a long lactation period and can produce up to ten liters of milk per day, for women like Asli, this regular income provide a measure of security and independence.
“We get oil from the camel hump. A big camel can give us up to twenty liters of good natural oil that we use to cook and even sell the surplus,” says Hawo Kontoma, secretary of Bakalcha women group in Moyale.
She explains that camels also have deep cultural significance. The families store fermented camel milk for visitors and dry its meat and preserve it for months in a form called ‘nyirinyiri’ or ‘koche.’ Nyirinyiri is an important part of community traditions including marriage. For these reasons, songs celebrating livestock and the people who care for them are part of the region’s cultural heritage.
Modern camel by products
The caravan also looked towards the future of women and youth in the pastoral economy. The women and youth displayed products made from camel resources, including yoghurt, fermented milk, processed fresh milk, dried meat, and biscuits. One of the groups that displayed their products is Moyale Sessi Camel Milk Cooperative. Asha Diba Nura, one of its members, explains:
“Our cooperative processes camel dairy products. Young people on motorbikes collect milk from livestock keepers out in the rangelands and bring it to our processing facility where we test it, package and sell as fresh or fermented milk and yoghurt. People really love our yoghurts and milk.”
According to Tahira Mohamed, Regional Partnership and Engagement lead based at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), these business opportunities are especially important for young people who might otherwise see few prospects in the pastoral economy.
“After the caravan, together with ICRISAT, we trained fifty-five young people from Kenya and Ethiopia in agribusiness opportunities along the camel value chain. The aim is to show them that pastoralism is not simply a way of life inherited from the past, but an economy that can create new opportunities when knowledge, innovation and markets come together,” Tahira added.
The camel caravan, and the image of people from different communities moving together, following an animal that has helped them survive some of the harshest conditions on earth, carried a message that peace and prosperity, like the 12-kilometre journey, are things communities must continue to travel together. The caravan itself might have only lasted three days, but its significance will stretch much further. The caravan championed peace, camel value chain, environmental protection, and culture. The message was simple: When camel cross borders, perhaps peace and prosperity can too.
Acknowledgement
ILRI, with support from the CGIAR Food Frontiers and Security Science Program, IGAD’s CEWARN program and local partners CIFA and SND organized the camel caravan. The caravan was part of the commemoration for the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026.
Watch video of the caravan below....
