I n the Malian capital of Bamako, donkey carts driven by young men including 19-year-old Arouna Diabate play a vital role battling the fast-growing city’s waste problem.

Every morning before dawn, Diabate hitches his donkey to a cart and sets off on his rounds, going door-to-door to collect household garbage that he delivers to a local waste transfer station for a monthly salary of about £27.

“I won’t be picking up trash with a donkey cart for the rest of my life, but for now people appreciate us because we help clean up the homes of Bamako,” Diabate says.

In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Show all 15 1 /15 In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste A waste picker unloads garbage at a waste transfer station in Bamako, Mali Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Wooden beds next to a dump Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Djibril Diabate, 16, who collects garbage using a donkey, collects garbage as he works in Bamako Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Donkeys, used to collect garbage, interact as they graze at a pasture Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste A man drives his cart Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Salif Diabate, 18, poses before going for a walk with his friends Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Dramane Diallo, 19, Djibril Diabate, 16, and Amadou Keita, 21, sit at the pasture of their donkeys Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste People search at a dump in Bamako Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Djibril Diabate takes off his work clothes Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Men stand in line as they prepare to unload at a local waste transfer station Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Arouna Diabate, 19, smokes as he sits at the donkey pasture Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste A street in Bamako Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Waste pickers prepare to unload garbage Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Souleymane Doumbia, 27, who collects garbage using a donkey, poses for a photograph before going for a walk with his friends Reuters In Mali, donkeys help with the fight against waste Arouna Diabate drives his cart as he works in Bamako. "I won't be a driver of a waste-collecting donkey all my life, but for now people appreciate us because we help clean up the homes of Bamako," Diabate said Reuters

Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world and the authorities struggle to provide adequate public services in the capital. Bamako’s population more than quadrupled from the mid-1970s to 1.8 million as of 2009, according to census data.

The population boom has made the issue of waste disposal in Bamako more acute, requiring Diabate’s boss, Moustapha Diarra, to deploy eight donkey carts in his district instead of the two he managed a decade ago.

The system is overburdened due to a proliferation of informal dumps and the authorities’ failure to remove waste from the local transfer stations, Diarra says.