Selam Ethiopia! Working equids research collaboration
PhD candidate Mathilde Punter recently travelled to Ethiopia as part of a collaborative project with Addis Ababa University to help investigate strategies for improving the welfare of these working equids.

There are millions of working equids in the world, supporting the livelihoods of entire communities and often representing a family’s only source of income. Few work as hard as the horses, donkeys and mules of Ethiopia.
Throughout the country, equids work tirelessly as pack, draught or cart animals, transporting people and goods and contributing to the welfare of numerous people. However, the lack of availability or access to veterinary services, as well as great socio-economic pressures and other cultural factors, mean the welfare of these equids is often compromised. A good example of this is the high prevalence of wounds in Ethiopia’s working equids, in particular harness related wounds.
Mathilde is working with Dr Peta Hitchens, Dr Anke Wiethoelter and Dr Charles El-Hage in the Melbourne Veterinary School, and with two Addis Ababa University MSc students, Abel Legesse and Belay Elias, as well as their team of supervisors.

Together, this team are investigating the working practices and equipment characteristics of equids across three different Ethiopian locations. This includes surveying hundreds of working equids to document their equipment and general welfare, as well as interviewing owners and conducting focus groups with the communities to understand their main concerns and priorities about work equipment.
After months of preparation, the team in Ethiopia took to the field to translate everything into action. Abel and Belay did a brilliant job collecting all the necessary data and the project was welcomed by the visited communities.
With the reopening of international borders between Australia and Ethiopia, an enthusiastic Mathilde travelled to Ethiopia to finally meet the local team in person and join them in the field.
"This was a much awaited and really successful trip!" she said.
"We visited all project locations together (Bishoftu, Selale and Shashamene) to gain a good understanding of the local context and to observe some of the work practices and equipment used. The trip also involved several training and brainstorming sessions at the Veterinary College, visits to local cart and harness makers and, of course, plenty of the wonderful Ethiopian coffee!”

The team will now analyse the data and bring their acquired knowledge together to answer some of the research questions. At the end of the project, the team aims to devise practical and problem-based guidelines for work equipment to help improve the welfare and efficiency of working equids, as well as the wellbeing of the communities that rely on them.
"We can already see there are clear differences in equipment design and use between the three study sites, as well as different community priorities in each location," said Mathilde.
"This will be really important to keep in mind when writing any recommendations, as the solutions to some harnessing problems are not one-size-fits-all."

Mathilde said she was grateful to everyone at the Addis Ababa University and the Melbourne Veterinary School who were involved with the project and made the trip possible.
"It was fantastic to meet the rest of the team in Ethiopia and build on this wonderful relationship which might, who knows, be the first of many collaborations to benefit working equids."