But not this oneBARINGO county,in Kenya’s Rift Valley, is a hard place. Water is short in the dusty bush, or so businesses tend not to thrive. But one industry is booming. At the edge of Mogotio,a town of roadside shops, hundreds of donkeys graze along the road. They are waiting to be sold for slaughter at the local abattoir. Next to a lorry, and a woman in a shimmering dress says she has brought 100 donkeys from Moyale,two days’ drive north. She expects to gain several thousand dollars from the sale.
Across Africa, donkeys are used as beasts of labour. Most Kenyans turn up their noses at the view of eating them. But Chinese entrepreneurs have opened a unique market. In China donkey skins are used to gain a gelatine, and called ejiao,that is used as traditional medicine. The meat is also a delicacy. The abattoir in Baringo has been running for nearly two years, slaughtering hundreds of donkeys a day to satisfy Chinese demand.
The...
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Source: economist.com