UWR: Use of donkeys to transport goods booms in Sissala West District

In the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region of northern Ghana, donkeys are rapidly becoming the preferred mode of transport for residents, despite the lack of modern transportation infrastructure. In communities like Kupulima, donkeys and donkey carts are the only means of moving between homes and farmlands due to poverty.

The use of donkeys is vital to local livelihoods, particularly in agriculture, as they can access areas that vehicles cannot. However, the donkeys face significant challenges. They are at risk due to the high demand for donkey skins for export to China and other Asian countries, depleting their population in the area. This, coupled with their slow movement, affects real-time mobility and productivity.

Assemblyman Katarah Batong expressed concern over the poverty-induced reliance on donkeys, highlighting the district's lack of progress in modern transportation. The few tricycles, or Motorkings, that appear in the community are not local but come from Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality, delivering goods for outsiders. Despite these challenges, residents continue to use donkeys for transporting goods to major towns within the Upper West Region.