{
  "id": 9382498,
  "title": "UWR: Use of donkeys to transport goods booms in Sissala West District",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/uwr-use-of-donkeys-to-transport-goods-booms-in-sissala-west-district",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-23T17:53:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "3News",
    "slug": "3news",
    "url": "https://3news.com/news/uwr-use-of-donkeys-to-transport-goods-booms-in-sissala-west-district"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "Residents of Kupulima and other communities in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region remain cut off from motorized transport due to poverty, especially when moving between their homes and farmlands.",
  "key_points": [
    "Donkeys becoming primary transport in Sissala West District",
    "Donkeys vital for agriculture due to inaccessible terrain",
    "Donkey population threatened by export demand for skins"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}