The value of donkeys to livelihood provision in northern Ghana.
The value of donkeys to livelihood provision in northern Ghana.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0274337
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发表时间：
2023
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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对用于中药阿胶的驴皮的需求不断增加，导致人们重新评估驴对世界各地生计的贡献。本研究旨在了解驴为加纳北部两个农村社区的贫困小农，特别是妇女提供的实用价值。独特的是，儿童和驴屠夫第一次接受了关于他们的驴的采访。对按性别、年龄和养驴情况分列的数据进行了定性专题分析。在第二次访问中重复了大多数方案，以确保一个湿季和一个旱季之间的比较数据。驴子在人们生活中的重要性比人们之前认识到的要大得多，它们的主人非常重视它们，因为它们能帮助人们减轻苦差事，还能提供多功能服务。对于拥有驴的人，尤其是女性来说，出租驴来赚取收入是次要的。然而，由于经济和文化原因，驴的饲养方式导致一定比例的动物流失到驴肉市场以及全球皮革贸易中。对驴肉的需求不断增加，加上农业对驴的需求不断增加，导致驴价上涨和驴被盗。这给邻国布基纳法索的驴数量带来了压力，并使资源贫乏的非驴主人被挤出市场。阿娇首次让人们关注到死驴的价值，尤其是对政府和中间商而言。这项研究表明，活驴对贫困农户的价值是巨大的。它试图彻底地理解和记录这一价值，如果西非的大多数驴被围捕和屠杀，而不是为了它们的肉和皮的价值。
Increased demand for the supply of donkey hides for use in the Traditional Chinese Medicine e’jiao, is leading to a re-appraisal of donkeys’ contributions to livelihoods across the world. This research aimed to understand the utilitarian value donkeys provide to poor small holder farmers, especially women, in their efforts to make a living in two rural communities in northern Ghana. Uniquely, children and donkey butchers were interviewed for the first time about their donkeys. A qualitative thematic analysis was undertaken of data disaggregated by sex, age and donkey-ownership. The majority of protocols were repeated during a second visit, ensuring comparative data between one wet, and one dry season. Donkeys are more important in people’s lives than had previously been recognised and are highly valued by their owners for their help in reducing drudgery and the multi-functional services they offer. Hiring out donkeys to generate income is a secondary role for people who own donkeys, especially women. However, for financial and cultural reasons the way donkeys are kept results in the loss of a certain percentage of the animals to the donkey meat market, as well as the global hides trade. Increasing demand for donkey meat, coupled with increasing demand for donkeys for farming, is leading to donkey price inflation and theft of donkeys. This is putting pressure on the donkey population of neighbouring Burkina Faso and pricing resource-poor non-donkey owners out of the market. E’jiao has put the spotlight on the value of dead donkeys for the first time, especially to governments and middlemen. This study shows that the value of live donkeys to poor farming households is substantial. It attempts to understand and document this value thoroughly, should the majority of donkeys in West Africa be rounded up and slaughtered for the value of their meat and skin instead.