Why Kenya Has Banned The Slaughter Of Donkeys

Kenya legalised the trade in donkey meat and hides in 2012. But according to Monicah Maichomo, director of the Veterinary Sciences Research Institute at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, the country has subsequently decided to ban the commercial slaughter of donkeys. This was after a report published in 2019 warned that the rise of donkey abattoirs in Kenya could wipe out the entire population of these animals in the country by 2023.

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The global demand for donkey hides and meat is driven mostly by Chinese markets. In China, donkey meat and hides are used to produce snacks, beauty products, virility stimulants, antiageing products, and traditional medicine known as ejiao.

Ejiao drives demand the most. Consisting of gelatin extracted from boiled donkey hides, it is claimed to boost health and vitality. Ejiao has a long tradition in traditional Chinese medicine, but previously only the elite in society could afford it. Over the past 30 years, a much larger section of the Chinese population has been able to afford it, which has driven the increase in demand. Local markets in China were unable to keep up, so Chinese businesses turned to other sources. Like a number of other African countries, Kenya was identified as a good source of donkeys, given that it had a population of about 1,8 million of these animals in 2010. Moreover, under Kenyan law, they are considered a farm and food animals, like pigs and cows.