The burgeoning international trade in donkey skins, driven by demand for the Traditional Chinese Medicine ingredient ejiao, has created a humanitarian, economic, and animal welfare crisis in East Africa. This unregulated slaughter threatens the livelihoods of millions who depend on donkeys for daily survival.

• Over 1.8 million donkeys in Kenya alone support the livelihoods of more than six million people.
• The Donkey Sanctuary, a global animal welfare charity, is campaigning for better protection of working donkeys through knowledge sharing, advocacy, and welfare improvement projects.
• The African Union Heads of State Summit in February 2024 made a historic agreement to ban the slaughter of donkeys, with the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) set to deliberate on options to support this ban.