The government wants to promote donkey farming to increase their population.
Deputy director of veterinary services Michael Cheruiyot yesterday said building slaughterhouses has decreased the population. He said farmers have not acted to bridge the gap.
Chinese import many donkey hides throughout Africa to be used in traditional medicine.
Speaking during the launch of the Alliance of Donkey Welfare Organisations in Kenya, Cheruiyot said the department is working with value chain players to develop a strategy to promote donkey farming.
He said the strategy will address production at farm level, welfare, transport, artificial insemination and breeding.
“Currently, most of the donkeys are kept for work purposes, thus stifling production,” Cheruiyot said.
About 1,200 donkeys are slaughtered daily in Mogotio, Turkana and Naivasha slaughterhouses per day. The figure is against a population of 1.8 million donkey with another 600 slaughtered illegally. A donkey currently sells at Sh12,000. It fetches more when slaughtered.
“The current herd will be wiped out if the rate is not contained,” Cheruiyot said. In Kenya, the numbxezr of donkeys is not known.
But the the Household Economy Assessment in Mwea shows donkey owners earn 87 per cent of their annual gross income from commercial transportation. That translates to Sh239,475 per annum per household with a donkey working an average of six days per week.