Demand for Donkey Hides and Implications for Global Donkey Populations

By Richard Bennett and Simone Pfuderer

In this paper, we analyse the demand for and supply of donkey hides. Ejiao has a long tradition in Traditional Chinese Medicine but it used to be a product reserved for the elite in Chinese society. … The rapid economic development in China has not only led to an increase in demand for ejiao but also to a rapid decrease in the domestic supply of donkeys. …. We use the systems dynamics model to assess the potential of countries to sustainably supply donkey hides over the next decade. The model shows that trade can contribute to the supply of donkey hides but it will be not possible to meet the current demand. Thus prices are likely to continue to increase. We conclude that there is currently a shortfall in supply of donkey hides that cannot be met either within China or from other countries. For this reason, fake ejiao products and illegal activities are likely to continue to characterise the donkey hide and ejiao markets.

Discussion paper prepared for presentation at the 93th Annual Conference of the Agricultural Economics Society, University of Warwick, UK, 15 - 17 April 2019. 22p.