Ghana beef, a rare commodity in the south but sold off in the north [3/4]

Increasing numbers of transhumant cattle from the Sahel in Ghana are driving down the price of beef in the north of the country. In contrast, cattle arriving by truck are becoming increasingly scarce in the south due to the violence in the Sahel. The result is fluctuating prices on livestock markets, which are already highly volatile.

The negotiations are in full swing at the Gunayili market, near the town of Tamale in northern Ghana. Livestock is abundant. According to Alhaji Iddrisu, who has been in charge of the Gunayili market for 12 years: “Before, when there weren’t so many cattle, the butchers could slaughter 100 oxen a day. Today, because of the crowds, they can slaughter 120 or more.  “

Both buyers and sellers miss the days when there were fewer cattle on the market. Back in 2017, it was still easy to sell your animals,” recalls Alhaji Iddrisu. It was only afterwards that things changed, when the number of transhumants from the Sahel increased… “.

The effects have been serious. As a result, prices have plummeted and it’s getting harder and harder to sell your goods. You only have to look at today’s market,” he says. “Some people won’t be able to sell their livestock and will therefore go home without having sold

 Anything. “

Transhumance banned

Ghana, like Côte d’Ivoire, still allows cross-border transhumance of cattle, i.e. the movement of herds of cattle on foot. Some transhumant herders, often Fulani, flee the violence linked to terrorism and come to settle in Ghana.

Various countries, such as Togo and Benin, have suspended the application of the Human Rights Act. Moving herds also causes conflicts with farmers when cattle come to feed or encroach on their plantations.

Exploding prices in the south

Not all the cattle in Ghana come from transhumance on foot. Certain cattle arrive by lorry, particularly on their way to the south of the country. Every day, the large market at Tulaku, near Accra, normally receives six vehicles carrying around forty animals.

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But increasingly fewer cattle are arriving by truck at this market, according to Issah Amartey, General Secretary of the National Association of Livestock Breeders and Traders of Ghana. “The people who come from the north, from Niger or Burkina for example, have stopped coming for security reasons. Since they have stopped coming, the price of livestock has gone up”, he points out. Consequently, meat butchers are buying it at a higher price and, at the end of the chain, consumers are doing the same.