Telecoupling of the Trade of Donkey-Hides between Botswana and China: Challenges and Opportunities

Matlhola, Dimpho Malebogo; Chen, Ruishan

doi:10.3390/su12051730

Cited by 17 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The participants stated that there is lack of veterinary services to treat donkeys that are sick. This is line with the findings of Matlhola and Chen (2020), which found that diseases are among the factors that reduce the population of donkeys in developing countries where drugs and veterinary services are scarce or non-existent.…”

Section: Discussion Of Major Findingssupporting

confidence: 91%

Scavenging for Ejiao's raw material and the extinction of donkeys in Nigeria

Maigari

Dantani

Yelwa

et al. 2020

GJS

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This paper examines the increasing presence of merchants in Northern Nigeria purchasing donkeys in large numbers beyond domestic consumption in parts of Nigeria that eat its meat and drink its milk. Also, this paper examines the economic and social effects on donkey users, especially in rural areas. Theoretically, this paper has adopted a Marxist explanation as the framework of analysis to analyse the trade between China and Nigeria. Methodologically, this paper employed a phenomenological research design under qualitative research where data were obtained from in-depth interviews and key informant interviews in Kebbi, Zamfara and Sokoto States with owners, marketers and users of donkeys in the selected states. This paper found that the areas surveyed witnessed an influx of marketers, foreign and domestic, who were into the business of trading donkeys or its skin. This paper also found that as a result of the high demand for donkeys, the owners preferred to sell their donkeys than domesticate them, because of the mouth-watering price from exporters. The study revealed that the majority of the villagers were not aware of what the exporters used the donkeys for. This is because the Chinese traders or their agents have not established manufacturing in Nigeria where the donkey serves as a raw material for the production of a traditional medicine called ejiao. This paper concludes that villagers are not aware of the cumulative effects of the unprecedented demand for donkey’s skin to produce ejiao and this is evident in the shrinking population of donkeys in Nigeria. This paper recommends that if trading donkeys is not controlled, there is a tendency that the donkey would become extinct in Nigeria, which will have adverse effects on the life of rural dwellers who rely on it for transportation of goods and domesticate it as an asset. Keywords: China, donkey’s skin, ejiao, globalisation, Nigeria, trading.

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Section: Discussion Of Major Findingssupporting

confidence: 91%

Scavenging for Ejiao's raw material and the extinction of donkeys in Nigeria

Maigari

Dantani

Yelwa

et al. 2020

GJS

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“…There is no one literature relating to donkeys. Academic papers relating to donkeys include intermediate transport [5][6][7], draught animal power [8][9][10], the clinical veterinary, health and welfare disciplines [11][12][13][14] and, increasingly donkey commodities [15][16][17][18][19]. There are also a number of papers specifically about donkeys in Ghana, including transport [20], draught animal power [21,22], gender [5,7,10], livelihoods Ghana who depend on them for their livelihood, donkeys, both alive and dead, are highly valuable even if not of particular significance to Ghana's economy overall (Fig 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The value of donkeys to livelihood provision in northern Ghana

2023

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Increased demand for the supply of donkey hides for use in the Traditional Chinese Medicine e’jiao, is leading to a re-appraisal of donkeys’ contributions to livelihoods across the world. This research aimed to understand the utilitarian value donkeys provide to poor small holder farmers, especially women, in their efforts to make a living in two rural communities in northern Ghana. Uniquely, children and donkey butchers were interviewed for the first time about their donkeys. A qualitative thematic analysis was undertaken of data disaggregated by sex, age and donkey-ownership. The majority of protocols were repeated during a second visit, ensuring comparative data between one wet, and one dry season. Donkeys are more important in people’s lives than had previously been recognised and are highly valued by their owners for their help in reducing drudgery and the multi-functional services they offer. Hiring out donkeys to generate income is a secondary role for people who own donkeys, especially women. However, for financial and cultural reasons the way donkeys are kept results in the loss of a certain percentage of the animals to the donkey meat market, as well as the global hides trade. Increasing demand for donkey meat, coupled with increasing demand for donkeys for farming, is leading to donkey price inflation and theft of donkeys. This is putting pressure on the donkey population of neighbouring Burkina Faso and pricing resource-poor non-donkey owners out of the market. E’jiao has put the spotlight on the value of dead donkeys for the first time, especially to governments and middlemen. This study shows that the value of live donkeys to poor farming households is substantial. It attempts to understand and document this value thoroughly, should the majority of donkeys in West Africa be rounded up and slaughtered for the value of their meat and skin instead.

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“…Maiara estimated that “people do hire the services of my donkey to carry their stuff, but is not all the time”. She potentially earns an additional ~520–1040 GH¢ (~£72.80–145.60) per annum through hiring out her donkey, although as she points out this “is just a little amount because it’s my friends and relatives who beg the services of my donkeys and wouldn’t pay anything to me” [ 2 , 10 , 22 , 23 ]. This compares to Kahiau’s £6.48 for each load his donkeys carry for selling “speculatively”.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As well as the clinical veterinary, health and welfare literatures [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ] these include draught animal power (DAP), traction and transport [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], donkeys and livelihoods [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], donkey commodities [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ] and donkeys and gender [ 8 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. There is also a growing literature on the increasing demand for donkey hides, a key constituent of a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) called e’jiao [ 3 , 16 , 18 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. However, in comparison to other economically important species in Majority World agricultural production, donkeys have been under-researched and under-valued.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Donkey Ownership Provides a Range of Income Benefits to the Livelihoods of Rural Households in Northern Ghana

Maggs

Ainslie

Bennett

2021

Animals

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Donkeys provide important resources and benefits for millions of people worldwide. However, global donkey populations are under increasing pressure from the growing demand for a traditional Chinese medicine, e’jiao, made from donkey-skin. The objective of this reflexive, qualitative thematic analysis was to examine the role of donkeys with 262 participants in northern Ghana and how donkeys contribute to livelihood outcomes, especially their use by women and children. Data were collected from four surveys, 12 in-depth interviews and 84 daily time budgets with the same participants, plus 16 focus groups, during one wet and one dry season across 2018-19. Uniquely, boys and girls between the ages of 10–16-years old were interviewed. Donkeys are highly valued by their owners as they play a valuable role in providing a pathway out of ultra-poverty. Donkeys’ contributions to livelihoods are significant and more complex than previously understood and documented in the literature. Donkey ownership confers up to six different income benefits in comparison to non-donkey owners. Female owners of donkeys reported that donkeys can contribute between 30–60% of their income. Children of both sexes can play an important role in the efficient deployment of one of these income generating activities.

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Telecoupling of the Trade of Donkey-Hides between Botswana and China: Challenges and Opportunities

Cited by 17 publications

References 11 publications

Scavenging for Ejiao's raw material and the extinction of donkeys in Nigeria

Scavenging for Ejiao's raw material and the extinction of donkeys in Nigeria

The value of donkeys to livelihood provision in northern Ghana

Donkey Ownership Provides a Range of Income Benefits to the Livelihoods of Rural Households in Northern Ghana

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