09 Aug 2015

Although he grew up on donkey milk, Mr Johannes Vasagie had no idea that his livelihood will depend on the highly nutritious milk. While Mr Vasagie went into the bakery business and farming after retiring from BCL mine in 1994, it was not until 2012 that he started researching the business viability of donkey milk.

He then ventured into the business in November 2014. He recalls that one of his first clients had a child who suffered from constipation. He reminisces how donkey milk permanently resolved the ailment. 

After milking donkeys in his farm in Verda, he puts the milk in deep freezers where it can stay for three months without going bad. He then transports the milk to Gaborone where most of his loyal customers are. He advises his customers to refrigerate the milk after buying it so that it stays for 15 days without going bad.

Mr Vasagie currently has 15 female donkeys and 11 employees. 

His dream is to have over 2 000 donkeys so that he can supply the country with donkey milk and have enough surplus for export.

He has two stalls in the main mall in Gaborone, one in front of the labour office, another in Tlokweng at Zamalek Shopping Complex and one at the Gaborone Bus Rank. He says demand is steadily increasing. Mr Vasagie has two employees who milk the donkeys, which are given a special diet. He then packages the milk into 250ml bottles. 

He says besides moisturizing the skin, the milk provides relief from asthma, hypertension and diabetes. 

He says his family and his customers can testify about the goodness of donkey milk. 

He hopes to diversify his product with donkey meat sales on a large scale in the future. 

Ms Christina Stegling, a resident of Kanye who has been drinking donkey milk almost every day since December 2014, says it helps her stay energetic throughout the day.

“The milk is also generally good and tastes great,” she chuckles. 

She says it also gives her relief from hypertension. Ends