Descriptive typology of camel farming system in Mauritania

A descriptive typology of camel breeding systems has been carried out all over Mauritania to find out how diverse they are. A total of 187 camel herds from the four regions of the country (South, Central, East, North) were surveyed. The forty-nine retained variables were focused on six topics: farmer, herd, animal health, feeding and commercial practices. The statistical strategy was based on a separate analysis of homogeneous sub-tables from the point of view of the selected groups of variables in order to determine the types of breeders, herds, food practices, health status, trade and trade flows. Descriptions of these types were followed by a comprehensive analysis to identify seven highly spatially differentiated types of breeding, with a highly significant regional effect observed: medium fatteners (n = 36), small mixed merchants (n = 32), medium little merchants (n = 21), mobile medium merchants (n = 23), small little marketers (n = 22), large merchants (n = 15) and large breeders (n = 38). These types were interpreted in relation to the geographical and climatic context of each region.