Donkeys, also called “Equus asinus” have for centuries played an important role in the African context. Donkeys have supported the livelihoods of an estimated of 500 million people in some of the world’s poorest countries, mostly Africans. Christened the beast of the burden, donkeys have provided labour to many African rural households where they have been used for land cultivation, pulling cargo, fetching water, and even transporting people. The donkeys have also the ability to withstand harsh climatic conditions, they have as well further endeared it to communities living in difficult terrains and arid spaces, where they were sometimes the only means of transportation. In Africa for instance, the donkey is also critical for many rural families. In particular, it can free women and girls from having to do heavy labour.
Donkeys, until this very day, often transport goods over long distances, carry household essentials, and help to cultivate land. However, in the last couple years, tens of thousands of donkeys have been ripped from these communities annually. Some have been traded often illegally, or stollen as the demand for their hide increases. Donkeys, which face that fate are often hauled over long distances without food, water or shelter and held for days if not weeks without proper rest before suffering a cruel fate. Most of them are herded up, killed, skinned, and traded as a commodity to be sent to the other side of the world.
The African Union (AU), in February 2024 announced a 15-year ban on slaughter of donkeys for their skins. This decision was arrived at following an upsurge in the slaughter of donkeys for their skin in many African countries. In the backdrop of relatively low levels of productivity of the animal, which is mostly found in the continent. After the AU’s ban, the next step was a creation of policies Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (REC) and member states to guide the implementation of the African Union resolution. Africa is home to an estimated 65% of the donkeys in the world; making it the most ideal place to get donkeys and donkey products. To this day, it is believed that Africa has the world’s largest donkey population. Africa has around 33 million donkeys, about two-thirds of the world’s estimated 53 million. Ethiopia is believed to be the African country with more than 10 million donkey population.
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At the end of March 2024, the AU kept a close surveillance on the illegal trade of donkeys on the continent, as well as REC’s efforts on implementing related laws against illegal trade of donkeys. Mwenda Mbaka, a veterinarian and animal welfare expert based in Kenya said that, any African government that condones the continued slaughter of the donkeys is in contravention of the ban, and such countries can be censored through the structures established by the RECs and continental frameworks.
African Union’s decision on banning the slaughter and illegal trade of the donkeys was widely praised by animal welfare groups and environmentalists across the world as a milestone toward protecting Africa’s donkeys. Before the African Union’s bans of donkeys’ slaughter and illegal trade, some African countries had already raised red flags on the existing illegal trade, and passed legislation to curb the trade. Countries like Burkina Faso and Uganda banned the export of donkey skin whilst Tanzania back in 2022 implemented a 10-year ban on donkey skin trade. However, despite the African Union and some African countries efforts to ban the slaughter of the donkeys, there is still a high risk that illegal trade of donkeys is still being taking place. In fact, despite many African countries bans and moves to regulate the donkey skin trade, donkey trafficking and illegal slaughtering remains rife.
While the African Union ban has been welcomed by many communities in the continent as the right measure to protect, preserve and even enhance the welfare and sustainability of donkeys, the move has also elicited conversation about the global donkey value chain.
China is today the largest consumer market of donkey hides. In China, donkey skins are used to make traditional food, medicine and beauty products. The well-known product made in China is the E-jiao (??). The E-jiao, which is made using collagen extracted from donkey hides mixed with herbs, is the vital ingredient in food and beauty products believed by many Chinese consumers to enrich the blood, improve the human immune system, and prevent some diseases. Many E-jiao products are even available on online platforms such as Taobao, Jingdong, which sell items including Shandong walnut E-jiao cake and E-jiao black sesame balls among others.
Lauren Johnson, an expert on China-Africa relations published a study early this year called “China, Africa and the market for donkeys”. In the study, Lauren emphasized that the E-jiao was a luxury product that gained favor among Chinese elites during the Qing dynasty that ruled China from 1644 until late 1912. It’s popularity has surged in recent years due partly to its use in the Chinese television series called “Empress in the Palace” (??????), which aired in 2011. According to Chinese state media, the E-jiao price since the television series being popular among Chinese people has leapt 30 fold in the past decade, going from 100 Yuan per 500 grams in 2011 to about 2,986 Yuan ($ 420) in 2024.
A British charity devoted to the animals’ welfare published a report stating that the E-jiao industry requires at least 5.9 million donkeys annually, which has put an unprecedented pressure on donkey’s global populations. This report caught the eye of the concerned parties and put an alarm to stop the illegal trade of donkeys. For instance, in Nigeria alone, tens of thousands of donkeys are slaughtered annually due to the demand for its hides. In 2019, Nigeria’s government decided to put a stop to it and banned exports of donkeys.
While Nigeria’s government banned export of donkeys back in 2019, in some villages, slaughtering donkeys was still allowed. Typically, donkeys in Nigeria are brought from neighboring countries like Niger across the northern border on a market day, sold off and driven away in trucks to southern Nigeria. Some donkeys are slaughtered by Nigerians businessmen and sold to China’s merchant in the region, whom exports the skins back to China or sell them elsewhere. This is the harsh truth unfortunately.
China has also its donkey’s population, but not as much as Africa’s. It is believed that China’s donkey population has fallen just under 2 million from 11 million in 1992, prompting its E-jiao industry to source donkey skins elsewhere. As Africa still has the world’s largest donkey population, it has emerged as the key source of donkey’s skins. The demand for donkey skins in China has certainly driven exports of the commodity mainly from Africa, into the Chinese market. This is a normal business case scenario where similar dynamics would reflect in trade with any other country, not just China. However, some commentators see the AU’s ban as a blow to China-Africa trade and economic cooperation. Some critics even see the ban as an affront to China, which is not the case.
China is today Africa’s largest trade partner; a position Beijing has held for the last 15 years since it displaced Washington from the top trading spot with the continent in 2009. China-Africa trade, especially in the agriculture sector, has delivered tangible benefits to both sides with many rural African farmers benefiting from Chinese production technologies and market access. Under the auspices of the forum on China Africa Cooperation in Agriculture, the two sides have intensified exchanges, joint trainings on a wide variety of subjects including climate adaptation, food security and poverty reduction. Africa has imported over 300 technologies in the last decade which have directly benefited over 1 million smallholder farmers spread across the continent.
The China-Africa donkey trade existed for quite a while, but with the mass slaughter of the donkeys on the African continent raised red flags and has become a controversial issue that may harm China’s bigger aspirations in the Global South. Certainly, the unregulated cross border trade in donkey and donkey products saw upsurge in theft, mass slaughter and skinning of donkeys in the continent, raising concerns from respective authorities of the African Union member states. However, there is no data or even suggestions to imply that China has promoted or been involved in the illegal activities in donkey trade in Africa.
In recent years, and especially after the ban of the donkey trade on the African continent, China has begun looking to countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan to source donkey skin. This shift at some point is not beneficial to Africa, especially small African farmers. China is now looking for donkey’s skins from Pakistan. Most of the donkey skins shipped from Pakistan to China are also believed to be a part of an undercover trade. For instance, in 2022 in Karachi, there was a rumor suggested that there is a shipment that was seized carrying almost 10 metric tons of donkey skins on the way to Hong Kong. The shipment was declared as carrying salt and handkerchiefs. It seems that wherever China is doing good business, as long as there is an issue, all the eyes are turned to China and blame China for the outcome.
China was portrayed to be a part of illegal trade or encouraging illegal trade of donkey skins on the African continent and even in Pakistan, which I believe is not true. It is therefore troubling, to see commentaries that portrays China as hell-bent on wiping out Africa’s donkey population and completely ignoring the business dynamics of demand and supply of donkey skins globally. Africa simply happens to have what the Chinese market needs. The discourse should be more about how to sustain the trade and make it mutually beneficial to African farmers within the obtaining global value chains, including in China. Unlike African countries, Pakistan learned how to turn the tide and learned how to secure the donkey business by teaching its farmers how to grow donkey’s population and keep the business.
Like Pakistan, African countries have an opportunity within the ban period to expand production of donkeys which can then be exported to China and other countries looking for the commodity within the regulated and sustainable channels. In just one year, Pakistan is reported to have grown its donkey population by 100,000 to probably hit 5.8 million in 2023. The upsurge happened on the backdrop of increased trade in donkey products between Pakistan and China. China is now Pakistan’s biggest trade partner, and China secure its donkey hides from Pakistan. To this scale, Africa is losing a golden opportunity to sell its commodity to China.
Africa and China have multiple channels of trade and investments cooperation that can be tapped to spur productivity across the different value chains. With the right investments, and progressive regulatory framework, Africa’s livestock sector can play a role in creating wealth for the countries while delivering mutual gains for the continent’s trade partners. This could be the silver lining in the trade in donkeys and donkey products between different African cities and Beijing.
In Africa, donkeys are still a symbol of resilience. At the same time, donkeys have also come to represent low levels of development in the continent. It is the desire of the African rural communities to develop and experience modern ways of cultivation and transportation, key functions currently being performed by donkeys, and at some point, cows or horses.
China-Africa development cooperation can deliver on the aspirations of these communities as envisaged under Africa Agenda 2063 and the Forum on China Africa Cooperation. Through the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing has for instance aided comprehensive modernization of Africa’s infrastructure spanning telecommunications, transportation, health, agriculture and green energy. This has made it possible for communities to increase yields, access markets and engage in the digital space. Within the proper channels, China can exchange its technologies on how to safeguard donkeys on the continent.
As Pakistan did, African farmers can learn from their experience as well. Higher development levels will enable African farmers to better take care of the donkeys and even go into mass production of the animals as an avenue of wealth creation and industrialization. Abundance of donkeys in Africa will ensure its farmers, particularly in economically vulnerable settings, have the opportunity to sustain their lives. The international markets also offer such farmers avenue to generate income from the livestock and change their economic conditions, including overcoming poverty.
The African Union ban on the slaughter of donkeys for skin should therefore not be politicised as an affront on China. This kind of narrative has the potential to derail the momentum of economic and trade cooperation beyond the single commodity of donkey hides. African farmers, policy makers and traders should also be careful about voices that crowd out the real issues affecting the continent’s trade and economic partnerships with Beijing.
Genuine concerns should be addressed in rational, mutually beneficial and sustainable manner, giving priority to the perspectives of Africans and relevant partners. China-Africa trade and economic relations has registered remarkable resilience over the past few years. It is in the interest of both sides to support sustainable trade practices, including within the livestock’s sector.