The camel trade between Egypt and Sudan is a long-established tradition that has been alive for hundreds of years. This trade is unique in the sense that it is not subject to the law of supply and demand and is not affected by negative or positive political considerations. The number of camels that make the journey between the two countries has remained virtually unchanged over the past thirty years.
The camel trade between Egypt and Sudan is a long-established tradition that has been alive for hundreds of years. This trade is unique in the sense that it is not subject to the law of supply and demand and is not affected by negative or positive political considerations. The number of camels that make the journey between the two countries has remained virtually unchanged over the past thirty years.
Sudanese trader Ali Awad is both an exporter and an importer of camels from Sudan and receives them in Egypt through Egyptian agents. The revenues generated from this trade have a positive impact on Egyptian small businesses because the value of those camels returns to Sudan in the form of goods purchased from the Egyptian market.
Awad says he purchases camels from various Sudanese markets, such as Al-Fashir, Nyala, Omdurman, Geneina and others. The purchased camels are then marked and entrusted to specialized cameleers who lead them on foot towards Egypt through known routes and valleys.
There are only two routes, says Awad; the first is west of Lake Nasser in the Irqin border area, while the second is east of Lake Nasser at the city of Shalatin. The first route is more preferred due to its proximity to the Nile.
Camel caravans
Cameleer Osman Bishari says camels come in large caravans of up to 200 camels. Each caravan is usually led by four cameleers, the most experienced of whom is called the expert. He walks in front of the caravan and is responsible for the safety of both the camels and his three colleagues who walk on the left, right and back of the caravan.
The journey across the eastern path, for example, is usually completed in no less than 17 days: four days from Omdurman to Ad-Damir, three days from Ad-Damir to Abu Hamad, six days to Allaqi on the Egyptian-Sudanese borders, and then four days to the quarantine in Shalatin in Egypt.
During that arduous journey, says Bishari, camels drink water only five times – about once every three days. The caravan keeps moving almost non-stop and only rests for short periods to allow the travelers to eat, drink coffee and get very short periods of sleep.
Bishari suggests that the cameleers are paid L.E. 300 (around US$43) per camel, which is divided equally among them, while the expert gets a bonus from the camels’ owner for his expertise.
The Sudanese trader, says Bishari, travels to Egypt by air or by sea in order to receive the caravan in the city of Daraw in Aswan Governorate to sell the camels there. In case he does not get a good price, he transports the camels to the Imbaba market in Cairo and after collecting his money, he buys Egyptian goods to sell them back in Sudan.
A camel trade-based city
Camel agent Hatem Bargassi suggests that Daraw is totally dependent on camel trade. The city, says Bargassi, provides shelters for camels and lodging for Sudanese traders who stay temporarily in the city until they complete the necessary procedures to transport the camels to other Egyptian governorates.
Bargassi says the Egyptian camel agents’ task is to receive the camels from the cameleers on the Egyptian-Sudanese borders and transport them to the quarantine at Abu Simbel or Shalatin, depending on the route taken by the caravan. After the camels undergo the necessary veterinary procedures, the agent transports them to Daraw.
Skyrocketing prices
Camel trader Sayyed Abdin says the movement of camels coming from Sudan has notably diminished as a result of the recent insecurity in the country, where most traders in the coastal area refrain from coming to Daraw to buy camels due to road blocks and robbers.
Abdin points out that the prices of camels have recently skyrocketed running as high as L.E. 17,000-18,000 per camel, which has led to sluggish sales.
Veterinary procedures
The Head of the Veterinary Association in Aswan, Ahmad Abdulkarim says the Abu Simbel quarantine receives the camels coming from Sudan on Mondays. The camels are kept for two days to vaccinate them against Rift Valley fever and spray them to remove pesticides, before they transported by vehicles to Daraw, 320 kilometers north of Abu Simbel, where the camel market opens on Saturdays and Sundays. The camels are then either transported to other Egyptian governorates or resold at the Barqash market in Cairo.
Abdulkarim suggests that the Egyptian health authorities only permit male camels to enter the country as a precautionary measure to control epidemic diseases which are sometimes transmitted by she-camels. Sudan-bred camels are usually aged 5-6 and some of them are fattened for few months and then slaughtered, while others are used for work in small fields. However, some camels arrive already fattened and ready for immediate slaughter.
Resistant to diseases
Camels, says Abdulkarim, are highly resistant to diseases and not a single incidence of epidemic disease caused by Sudan-bred camels has been reported during the past 30 years. Camel meat is very healthy because it is rich in protein and cholesterol-free.
He explains that the January 25 Revolution did not affect business and that the number of camels coming from Sudan every month is 4,000-5,000 through each of the two quarantines in Abu Simbel and Shalatin.
He indicates that the number of camels coming from Sudan lessens in the summer – the rainy season there – which means plenty of pastures, so camels’ owners can fatten them there. Besides, it is too hot for fattened camels to move during summer. In winter, the number of camels coming from Sudan increases because Egyptian farmers need them to transport sugar cane from their fields to the main roads.
Land route
Abdulkarim expects that the new Wadi Halfa-Qastal road, which connects Sudan and Egypt will affect the movement of camel caravans coming through Shalatin rather than that from Irqin. In addition, the new road will be suitable for the vehicles transporting Sudanese calves into Egypt.
He suggests that the prices of camels have risen considerably in recent years, ranging between eight to ten thousand Egyptian pounds per camel according to weight. The price of one kilogram of beef is ten pounds higher than that of camel meat, which means that camels actually help stabilize meat prices in the Egyptian market.
