Study on donkeys to begin

Dar es Salaam. A one-year study will be carried out on whether Tanzania can formally launch slaughterhouses to produce donkey meat for local consumption and export.

According to the Tanzania Meat Board livestock registration officer, Mr Ezekiel Maro, the aim of the study – which begins later this month - is to establish whether the business can be sustainable.

Tanzania has banned donkey meat trade and hides exports on fears that the animals might be wiped out. Some sections of the media quoted the minister for Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, Dr Charles Tizeba, as saying the ban was aimed at saving the animals.

“The trade was booming,” Mr Maro told The Citizen.

He said the business will resume when it is established whether there are enough donkeys to slaughter them commercially and sustainably. “The birth rate of donkeys is lower than that of cattle, goats and sheep. Slaughtering them without ensuring reliable supply will endanger them.” According to him, the donkey census will be conducted and identify all areas where they are mostly found and possibly advise investors to establish donkey ranches to ensure that they are kept in a modern way for sustainable use.

He said it would be possible to import the best breed of donkeys for rearing locally.

He said it also aimed at identifying an area of setting up a donkey meat processing factory. “Donkey hides will also be processed locally to add value for export.”

According to him, it is estimated that 2,000 tonnes of donkey meat were smuggled out last year.

He said the business was done illegally. Some donkeys were stolen and slaughtered to have meat and hides. “It’s a pity that illegal trade has thrived. In some villages donkeys have been stolen, killed and their hides taken away at night.”

It is estimated that the world had about 41 million donkeys in 2006. China had the most with 11 million, followed by Pakistan, Ethiopia and Mexico.