Donkey keeping in northern Tanzania: socio-economic roles and reported husbandry and health constraints

摘要

Dataonthesocio-economicroles,husbandryandhealthofdonkeysinTanzaniaarescarce.Donkeyshavereceivedlittleattentionfromresearchersbecauseconventionallytheyareviewedashavinglowstatusandanystudyoftheirproblemsisconsequentlyaccordedlowpriority.Theactualimportanceofdonkeys,tolivestockkeepingcommunitiesingeneralandpastoralistwomeninparticular,needsmoreinformedrecognition.Toredressthisknowledgegap,wevisited145familieslocatedinthreeagropastoralgeographicalsitesinNorthernTanzaniatoconductadetailedstructuredquestionnaireinterview.Randomsurveymethodswerecarriedouttodeterminethedonkeykeepingsystemandtheconstraintsfacedinordertofacilitatethedesignofappropriateinterventionstrategies.Informationcollectedincludeddataconcerningsocio-economic,nutritional,healthandmanagementalaspects.nbsp;Outof145respondents,98.6%ownedotherlivestockspeciesaswelldonkey.Ofthese91.7%ownedcattle(indigenousandimproved),88.3%ownedsmallEastAfricangoats,73.2%ownedindigenoussheepand86.9%ownedpoultry.Everyoneinterviewedwasadonkeyowner.Themean(±stdDev)donkeyherdsizewas3.3(±2.3)perhousehold.Packtransportoffoodstuffs(maizeandbeans),waterandhouseholddomesticmaterialswerethemajorreasonsforkeepingdonkeys.nbsp;Donkeykeepingconstraintsanddiseaseconditionwerenumerousandvariedgreatlybetweenandwithinthestudysites.Health,lowsocialstatusandpoormanagementwerethemajorconstraintsthatrespondentsclaimedhadanimpactontheirdonkeys.Itwasconcludedthatdonkeyswereanimportantcomponentinbothagro-pastoralandpastoralsocietiessurveyed.Itwasthereforearguedandpostulatedthatimprovementofmanagementpractices,particularlytreatmentandcontrolofhindlegs/backsoresbyuseofproperharnessaswellasfeedsupplementationarerequiredtoenablebetterperformanceofdonkeys.nbsp;