Source:  News Release

Helping donkey-dependent communities in drought-stricken Kenya

 Working in collaboration with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), The Donkey Sanctuary team in Kenya have been giving emergency food and veterinary treatments to donkeys in the drought-stricken Mwingi region, north east of Nairobi. Donkeys are vital to communities in times of drought, enabling their owners to carry food and water from increasingly far-off supply points.  While they are working harder than usual, they are also suffering from malnutrition, parasites, and harness wounds caused by heavier loads on thinner bodies. 

Josiah Ojwang, Education Officer for The Donkey Sanctuary in Kenya, explains the different roles that donkeys carry out in times of drought:

“In times of drought, it is clear that donkeys take on a new significance for the people of Mwingi. Donkeys are used as a central part of the people’s coping strategy during drought, and helping them helps lessen the effects of the disaster on people and other animals.

“A donkey owner in Mwingi Central indicated that the nearest water point to her home in normal times is about 2km away, and she collects water twice a day so the donkey is likely to cover 8km in a day. But during this drought, the nearest water point to her home is about 7km away, and doing the same two trips means that her donkey walks at least 28 km in a day. This means walking longer hours with the load of water on its back, and hardly any time to feed.”

The Donkey Sanctuary visited six districts of the Mwingi region, giving nearly 4,000 donkeys deworming treatments, food, mineral supplements and multi-vitamins. They also helped owners improve harness, and arranged for water to be available to donkeys. The charity plans another similar intervention in the area next month.

  Elsewhere in the country, The Donkey Sanctuary has provided around £4,000 in funding to a small animal health and welfare project in Marsabit in the Eastern Province of Kenya, which supplies water and mineral and salt block licks to donkeys in the area north west of the town towards the Ethiopian border.  

The charity’s ultimate aim is to find sustainable ways to support donkeys and the communities they serve during drought and to bring the importance of their role during a crisis to the attention of humanitarian aid agencies.  To find out more about The Donkey Sanctuary’s approach to drought management and other overseas projects, please visit  www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk  .