Donkey’s vital role in sustainable agricultural development

Women using donkeys to fetch water at Nguswini water point in Machakos County

The donkey, scientifically referred to as Equus asinus, is the invisible worker among livestock in Kenya. Its contribution to livelihoods and the agricultural value chain often goes unnoticed.
Traditionally, donkeys are used to transport goods which range from water, agricultural produce to hardware and furniture.
They, therefore, offer transport solutions in areas with poor terrain and where other modes of transport are too expensive for low-income earners. Their contribution to livelihoods often goes unnoticed primarily because they do not produce food of animal origin and therefore are not perceived as a critical element of people’s livelihoods. But did you know that working donkey contribute to eleven of the seventeen sustainable development goals?
To the donkey owning community, a donkey is much more than an animal especially to the women who use them. In semi-arid areas like Narok, the donkey is referred to as a co-wife; a helper, while in urban areas like Mwea and Nairobi, the donkey is referred to as a second husband; a provider.
Arid and semi-arid lands are synonymous with water scarcity. Images on media often show women and children carrying jerricans of water over long distances. Most women can only carry one 20 litre jerrican on their backs per trip. On average, a trip to the nearest water point can be 5 or more kilometres depending on the season. To fetch enough water for daily household use a woman must make at least four trips. In contrast, an adult donkey can carry four 20 litre jerricans per trip equivalent to 80 litres.
Benadetar Kilatya, a donkey owner from Machakos County observed, “My donkey helps me fetch water from the river, carry firewood and foodstuffs to and from the market. Without it, I’d be forced to pay for transport services yet I don’t have a steady income.”
Benadetar further says that donkeys are easy to train and easily follow instructions, for example, her donkey knows the daily routine of fetching water and all she needs to do is place the jerricans on its back and her donkey will go to the river accompanied by her children. This gives her time to engage in other chores.
The burden of the beast not only help women save time but also earn income. A report published by KALRO in 2019 on The Status of Donkey Slaughter in Kenya and its Implications on Community Livelihoods found that on average donkey owners earn Sh11,390 per month from providing transport services. Working donkeys, therefore, play a key role in their owners’ lives in terms of provision of basic needs and financial growth.
Ruth Wanjera offers donkey transport services in Ruai area, Nairobi County. She mainly transports building materials such as sand, cement and iron sheets to various construction sites in the area. “I can’t compare other casual jobs to working with a donkey. On good days, I take home Sh1,500 or more. I have been working here for about 8 years and from the income earned I have managed to pay my children’s fees up to tertiary level without much of a struggle,” she shares.
In Mwea, donkeys form an integral part of the agricultural value chain. Donkeys are used to transport rice from the fields to the mills. Without the donkeys, the cost of the final product would be much higher. Mary Wambui, a resident of Mwea, describes her donkey as her second husband. She shares that from the income earned from her donkeys, she managed to upgrade from a mud house to a stone house. “On my wall, I drew a donkey as a sign of gratitude. Donkeys are part and parcel of my life. Whenever we are short of money, all I need to do is get my donkeys and their cart and my needs for that day are sorted.”
However, it has not been a rosy journey for this invisible worker and its dependents over the past four years. Increasing demand for Ejiao, a Chinese traditional medicine made from donkey skins, put donkeys at risk of near extinction. Kenya began to licence donkey export slaughterhouses in 2016. This legal slaughter fuelled cases of donkey theft, bush slaughter and cross border smuggling of donkeys. Up to 1,100 donkeys were slaughtered per day according to KARLO 2019 report.
Women and persons with disabilities were noted to be the worst hit by the donkey hide trade. Nancy Nyambura was a water vendor in Lucigetti, Kiambu County, earning an average of Sh1,200 per day. In August 2019, life changed drastically when her donkey and its foal were stolen. “I woke up one morning to an empty shed. The thieves had made a hole in the fence and forced the donkeys through it. For about a month I had nightmares of my donkeys braying and scratching at the gate asking to be let in. But whenever I woke up I would see the empty shed, a painful reminder that my helper was gone.”
She narrates how without her daily source of income, her financial situation deteriorated quickly. Her children dropped out of school because she couldn’t raise their school fees and she was forced to make drastic changes to their diet. She further lamented that casual labour was not consistent and only paid her a mere Sh300 per day. That was nowhere near enough to meet her daily family needs. Once her savings from the business ran out, Nancy had no choice but to become the donkey herself.
To ensure that her household had a supply of water, Nancy began pulling her donkey’s cart to fetch water. The water point is just under one kilometre from her home, but it would take her an hour to and from.
At the entrance to her home is a small hill, and any time she arrived with the heavy cart she’d require assistance to pull it in. “I developed back problems because of pulling the cart, but what choice did I have? Sometimes people are available to help, other times they aren’t willing to assist me to pull my cart. I fetch water three times a week. The water is meant for household use and to water my goats. I make sure we use it sparingly.” Nancy Nyambura shared
As the trade in donkey skins hit its peak, donkey owners across Kenya united to petition the Government to save their source of livelihood. After months of peaceful demonstrations at County and National levels, a ban on the export of donkey products was declared by Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives, Peter Munya.
Donkey owner groups are now in the process of replacing the stolen donkeys. Group initiatives aimed at encouraging natural breeding of donkeys are in the pilot stages. Animal Welfare Organizations and people of goodwill are supporting the victims of donkey theft with replacement donkeys so that they can get their lives back on track. In Africa, there are very few studies on donkey breeding. It is therefore prudent for governments to undertake these studies to better inform future policies related to donkeys.

Dr. Samantha Opere is Veterinary Officer/Head of Region Heshimu Punda Programme-Kenya Network for Dissemination of Agricultural Technologies (KENDAT)