• Animal experts call for a ban on the export of donkey skin
• Illegal slaughtering of donkeys on the rise due to high demand for skin in China
Image: FILE
In the last three years, Kenya lost Sh28.3 billion in revenue due to the slaughter of donkeys that would have been used for income generation.
A survey showed the revenue would have been collected assuming the 75,494 donkeys slaughtered were working.
“These donkeys would otherwise have been used to generate a mean monthly income of Sh11,390. This shows the income foregone was valued at Sh28.3 billion during the reference period of April 2016 – December 2019," the report shows.
The survey released yesterday was conducted in Turkana, Nakuru, Machakos, Baringo, Narok, Kajiado and Kirinyaga counties.
It was carried out by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation and Brooke East Africa team.
During the same period, the gross revenue from the export of donkey meat and skin was Sh1.82 billion.
“A comparison of the income foregone by donkey owners and users was 15 times more than the gross revenue generated from donkey slaughter for export,” the survey read.
Animal welfare experts yesterday called for a ban on the export of donkey skins and associated products from Kenya.
Led by Fred Ochieng, CEO Brooke East Africa, experts and donkey owners yesterday called for a crackdown on cross border smuggling of donkeys into Kenya for their skins.
Brooke is an international animal welfare charity in East Africa.
Ochieng said donkey skin trade is driven by high demand for skins in China.
He added the population of donkeys in Kenya is decreasing due to the illegal slaughter.
The skins are boiled to produce a traditional Chinese medicine known as ejiao.
This is used in beauty products such as face creams, anti-aging treatment or even as a remedy for insomnia and libido or reproductive problems.
Eliud Kireger, Kalro director general, said there has been an outcry against donkey theft and illegal slaughter in the country since the licensing of four donkey abattoirs.
A total of 301,977 donkeys were slaughtered since commissioning of export donkey abattoirs in Kenya.
The report shows 6.9 percent were slaughtered in 2016, 40.3 percent in 2017 and 52.8 percent in 2018.
“An analysis of data on exported donkey meat showed a discrepancy of 21,030 donkeys in comparison to the number of donkeys slaughtered as reported in the abattoirs,” he said.
Kireger said 2,209 tonnes of donkey products were exported between 2016 and June 2019.
The donkey was gazetted as a food animal in 1999 with the aim of curbing bush slaughter and improving food safety.
However, increased global demand for donkey skin led to the establishment and licensing of donkey slaughterhouses.
Between 2016 and 2018 four export slaughterhouses were licensed.
They include Goldox Kenya Ltd in Baringo, Star Brilliant Ltd in Nakuru, Silzha Ltd in Turkana and Fuhai Machakos Trading Co. Ltd in Machakos.
“There should be regulation of donkey slaughter in the export slaughterhouses until a donkey breeding or multiplication programme has been in place to ensure sustainability,” Monicah Maichomo said.
Maichomo is the director of Kalro- Veterinary Science Research Institute at Muguga.
(Edited by N. Mbugua)