Kirinyaga donkey owners have supported the ban on the slaughter of donkeys for the export market.
The ban follows an increase in donkey theft cases.
Owners on Saturday said the slaughter of donkeys had contributed to a rise in theft of the animals. Donkeys are an essential lifeline for many farmers who use them for transport.
The happy donkey farmers decorated their animals and organised a procession on the streets of the busy Wang’uru town to support the ban that was declared by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya last week.
Munya also issued a one-month notice for donkey slaughterhouses to change the nature of their business.
“We cannot satisfy the huge demand for donkey meat in China and the trade has already made a dent in the economy,” the CS said.
The government licensed four donkey abattoirs in Baringo, Naivasha, and Turkana and in Machakos. Approximately 1,000 donkeys are slaughtered daily.
The global demand for donkey skins and meat is usually driven by the Chinese market. In China, donkey meat and skins are used to produce snacks, beauty products, sex stimulants, anti-ageing products and traditional medicine known as ejiao.
Kirinyaga Donkey Owners Association chairman Cyrus Gitonga said after donkey slaughter was commercialised, they have been suffering since their earnings from operating donkey carts had reduced.
He said when the abattoirs started operating, traders first bought lame donkeys and later went for healthy and even in-foal ones.
After Munya’s announcement, owners of the abattoirs moved to court seeking to have the ban overturned.
Gitonga said they would support the government’s decision to make sure the ban is enforced, even if it means being enjoined in the case.
Donkey owner Patrick Wanjohi said the animals play an important role in the transportation of rice from the Mwea Irrigation Scheme.
He said the ban is a huge relief for women because they use donkeys to fetch water and carry firewood.
Emmanuel Simiyu, a veterinary from the Kenya Network for the Dissemination of Agriculture Technologies (Kendat), which lobbies for donkey’s welfare, called on the government research institutions to start breeding donkeys to refill their depleted numbers.
Data from the Agriculture ministry has estimated donkey populations to be lower than one million.
Simiyu said the donkey gestation period is close to one year while females take longer to get on heat and hence the low reproduction rate that could not match the number of those being stolen and slaughtered.
