Animal welfare advocates and agricultural researchers are renewing calls for urgent government intervention to stop the illegal donkey hide trade in Ghana.

They are warning that the country’s donkey population could soon disappear if stronger measures are not enforced.

The renewed campaign is being championed by Roger Kanton and the Fight Against Donkey Extinction (FADE) project amid reports of increasing donkey slaughter in northern Ghana.

Speaking during an engagement in Accra, Roger Kanton warned that donkeys remain critical to the survival of many rural communities, particularly in northern Ghana, where they are widely used for farming, transportation and manure production.

“The hen that lays the golden eggs, do you go and slaughter it and eat? No. You protect it,” he said.

He added that some communities have deeply rooted beliefs about donkey care, making the situation more difficult.

“If you go to the Bolga area, the Frafra and Nankani people feel that if a donkey is sick, nothing can be done about it. It’s between the donkey and its God. So you don’t waste your money treating it,” he explained.

Mr Kanton urged the government to implement sustainable livestock protection policies and fully enforce existing regional laws against the donkey hide trade.

“The law already exists. It has been passed by ECOWAS and the AU. So what we’re saying is that since Ghana is a member of these two bodies, it beholds government to implement those laws. That is all,” he said.

Animal welfare groups have repeatedly warned that the growing demand for donkey hides, driven largely by international markets, is threatening livelihoods in communities that depend heavily on the animals for daily economic activity.