• By Renthia Kaimbi

The African Union (AU) through African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), is fuelling urgent continental action stop the gruesome slaughtering of donkeys to feed the relentless global demand for their skins. These efforts have culminated in the hosting of the second Pan African Donkey Conference slated for later this month in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Donkeys, indispensable to millions of Africans for transport, water hauling and crop cultivation are perishing at alarming rates across the continent, mostly through motor vehicle accidents and the illegal slaughter for the skin trading business. While the trade of donkeys and other equids like horses is not commercialized in Namibia, the nation is a member State of the AU.  

It alleged that the demand for 'ejiao’, a donkey-hide gelatine used in traditional Chinese medicine, is the driver of the slaughtering of the animal for its skin Despite the landmark 2024 AU moratorium banning donkey slaughter for its skin, this stark reality, casts a long shadow over Namibia’s donkey population, which is vital for rural resilience.

The moratorium aims at strengthening enforcement among member states by developing concrete mechanisms to combat cross-border trafficking and illegal slaughter. However, when Confidente contacted local hunters that trade in donkey meat, they confirmed that there is currently no market for donkey skin in Namibia.

The hunters relayed that while slaughtering donkeys for meat for human consumption is not illegal in Namibia, some of them cast the trade in bad light by not obtaining the relevant permits to transport these carcasses.

According to the hunters, those who transport carcasses without permits, make it seem as if they are randomly poaching donkeys. 
At the moment, the hunter say, they merely abandon donkey skins where they slaughter as they have no use or market for the skin. They are of opinion that donkey skin is heavy to transport, weighs the vehicles down which will require extra fuel. 

Speaking to Confidente, Dr. Hiver Boussini, head of animal health and welfare at AU-IBAR said that he is aware that there countries such as Botswana which exports donkey meat to the European Union for the purpose of animal feed.  “Our main partner is the World Horse Welfare based in South Africa, who has been supporting us in advancing the animal welfare agenda.

 We are consistently inviting the government of Zambia and Zimbabwe through the dedicated ministries [to join us],” said Boussini.
Just a week ago, Confidente shared reports of an incident involving an unlicensed driver who was involved in a collision with a donkey cart, injuring one person and killing three donkeys that were harnessed to the cart in the Oshana region.