Enhancing the Livelihoods and Welfare of Cart Donkey Owners Involved in Solid Waste Management in and Around Hawassa City amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
Amare Argaw *
Sidama Agricultural Research Institute, Hawassa Agricultural Research Center, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic intensified occupational and public health risks among informal solid waste collectors, particularly youth operating donkey-drawn carts in Hawassa, Ethiopia. This study evaluated the impact of a One Health–based intervention on occupational safety, socioeconomic outcomes, and donkey welfare using a pre–post intervention design. A baseline census identified over 400 workers and 313 operational carts. The intervention combined cooperative formation, targeted training, provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), and ergonomic cart redesign. Nine savings and credit cooperatives (n = 313 members) were established. A total of 160 participants received structured training on COVID-19 prevention, zoonotic disease control, occupational health, and cooperative management, while 100 workers were equipped with PPE and sanitation materials. An improved, animal-friendly cart prototype was developed and field-tested. Comparative pre- and post-intervention analyses showed statistically meaningful improvements across key indicators. The prevalence of harness-related injuries in donkeys declined from 45% to 12% (absolute reduction: 33 percentage points), indicating a substantial effect size. Access to adequate feed and water increased to 80% of animals. Adoption of safe waste-handling and hygiene practices improved significantly among trained participants (p < 0.05). Household income increased by 20–35%, suggesting positive economic impact associated with enhanced efficiency and cooperative-based market access. Multi-sectorial engagement involving 12 institutions strengthened implementation fidelity and intervention uptake. Overall, the results indicate that integrated interventions grounded in the One Health framework can produce statistically and practically significant improvements in occupational health, animal welfare, and livelihood outcomes. These findings support the scalability of community-based, multi-sectorial models for strengthening informal urban waste management systems in low-resource settings.
Keywords: One health, informal sector, occupational health, donkey welfare, solid waste management, COVID-19, cooperative development, Ethiopia