The ‘ejiao’, the Chinese food that causes the slaughter of donkeys in Africa

He ejiao It’s a extremely priced Chinese pure treatment that is used as a blood tonic to treatment folks with a scarcity of crimson blood cells. Girls use it even in opposition to getting old. The drawback is that it’s made with donkey pores and skin jelly and the Chinese demand for these animals is changing into unsustainable. To fulfill the demand, African nations corresponding to Mali, Niger or Burkina Faso are killing their donkeys to export them to the Asian big. The escalation of gross sales threatens to decimate their flocks.

“We’re horrified. The donkeys are being slaughtered in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe and exported massively and illegally to the Far East,” reveals the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The entry of donkey skins in China grew nearly 150% between 2013 and 2015, from 9.32 to 22.44 tons. Mexico, Peru and Egypt, in addition to Africa, are amongst the major nations of origin. And it’s that China produces about 5,000 tons of ejiao, one thing that requires about four million skins. Chinese native manufacturing solely reaches 1.eight million skins.

In Niger, for instance, about 80,000 donkeys had been exported in 2015 in comparison with 27,000 in the earlier yr. A scandalous determine that has pressured the African nation to ban exports and killings, each of mules and donkeys.

Ejiao, one of the most quoted merchandise in China. Picture: Wikipedia

Scams enhance

The company Xinhua reported that folks have began utilizing the skins of mules, horses, pigs or oxen to provide faux medicines as a result of the value that the uncooked materials had reached, which elevated greater than 20%, with the piece presently valued at about 350 euros (2,600 yuan).

He ejiao It’s a product much like ginseng. It’s primarily utilized by girls in China, as they’re satisfied that it improves blood circulation, attenuates dizziness, regulates menstruation and helps anemia or insomnia disappear.

In the meantime, excessive costs have triggered counterfeits.