On Draft Donkey Utilization in Western Africa

Part of our work as an NGO is raising awareness of specific topics that would otherwise remain unknown to the broader public. One of these is the usage of draft animals to improve the productivity of farmers and how this contributes to eradicate poverty in rural Burkina Faso in the long run.

To support us on this mission, Marcel Scheidweiler, a member of our NGO, published an interesting essay on our NGO’s contribution to how donkeys were changed from mere pack donkeys to draft animals in Burkina Faso from 1959 onwards, beginning with the initiative of Antoine Mailliet, a young Luxembourgish farmer.\

Marcel Scheidweiler explains how this change worked and why it was such a substantial improvement for the everyday life of the farmers. It meant entirely new farming methods, which helped them to fight famine and poverty. Up to the present day, the usage of draft donkeys has been promoted in Burkina Faso and thus has helped rural fami- lies to increase their food security and become less affected by draught and other consequences of climate change.

The essay is included in the publication “Draft Animals in the Past, Present and Future”, a compilation of 22 articles on draft animals in different cultures and their key role in securing the livelihood of millions of people around the globe. I’d like to thank Marcel for writing this excellent summary of the work of our NGO. In fact, I highly recom- mend studying this essay.

Scheidweiler, Marcel: The introduction of draft donkey in Burkina Faso, West Africa, in: Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Hessen, Kropp, Claus und Zoll, Lena (Hrsg.): Draft Animals in the Past, Present and Future, Heidelberg: Propylaeum, 2022, p. 87-94.https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1120.c15602