Bushmeat trade in northern Ghana 217
conservation planning. Bushmeat market data have also been used to explore various characteristics of the trade to better understand the behaviour of consumers, hunters and traders. Previous studies have highlighted the impor- tance of understanding such behaviours as they influence the dynamics of the trade (Allebone-Webb et al., 2011; McNamara et al., 2015, 2016). These types of data are invalu- able for conservation management, for identifying species or landscapes under threat and for developing targeted interventions to address the unsustainable supply or con- sumption of bushmeat. In Ghana, a number of bushmeat markets have been
studied at various times. However, these studies have only collected data for markets and trade patterns in the south- ern part of the country (e.g. Ntiamoa-Baidu, 1997;Cowlishaw et al., 2005;McNamara et al., 2016). Information on almost all aspects of the bushmeat trade is scarce for northern Ghana (Aalangdong, 2010). In addition to this need for data, the north, being a savannah ecosystem, has different biotic and socio-cultural characteristics from the humid south, and therefore northern markets could potentially exhibit different characteristics from southern markets. Generally, the bushmeat trade in savannahs is less studied than that in forest ecosystems (Lindsey et al., 2013), with the majority of studies focused on East and Southern Africa (e.g. Lindsey et al., 2011; Nielsen & Meilby, 2015). Here we use bushmeat market data to provide an in-
depth analysis of the dynamics of the bushmeat trade in northern Ghana. Undertaking the first comprehensive sur- vey of local markets, we gathered information on the type and volume (carcass numbers and biomass) of bushmeat taxa on sale at three market sites.Weuse these data to exam- ine species composition and volumes traded and to estimate annual bushmeat trade in each market site to gain insights into the condition of wildlife resources. We examine differ- ences between sites to understand potential spatial variation and investigate factors influencing fluctuations in trade vo- lumes. We assess and compare the prices of different bush- meat species as well as other animal protein available in the study area, to gain insights into the behaviours of consumers and traders. We present an overview of the bushmeat trade flow to understand how the market operates. Finally, we draw some general conclusions regarding the bushmeat trade in this understudied region and the implications of these findings for bushmeat exploitation and the conser- vation of exploited species.
Study area
We conducted our study in the Upper East Region of Ghana, in the north-east, bordered by Burkina Faso to the north and Togo to the east (Fig. 1). Typically, there is a wet season in May–October and a dry season in November– April, with highest temperatures in March. The natural
vegetation is savannah woodland, comprising mainly open savannah, with grassland separating fire- and drought- resistant trees such as the shea nut Vitellaria paradoxa (Ghana Statistical Service, 2013). This region is one of the least urba- nized in Ghana. The rural savannah zone has the highest poverty incidence (67.7%, with average annual income equivalent to ,USD 306 per adult in 2016/2017; Ghana Statistical Service, 2018). The majority (80%) of the economically-active population is engaged in crop farming, an activity that is part of their tradition and their main source of food (Ghana Statistical Service, 2013). A variety of crops are cultivated in the study area, including millet and maize. Livestock and poultry rearing are common. We focused on three towns, Sandema, Chiana and
Fumbisi, with populations of 5,226, 1,038 and 2,647 people, respectively, in 2010 (Ghana Statistical Service, 2012). These towns were selected based on expert knowledge from previ- ous studies that suggested they held substantial bushmeat markets (Ntiamoa-Baidu, 2016; Fig. 1). The markets of the three towns, where both agricultural and manufactured goods are sold, are the major commercial centres in their respective districts. Of the three, the Fumbisi market is the largest in terms of the number of market attendees. The markets serve the surrounding small communities and vil- lages and are well integrated with major source locations supplying bushmeat. There are three important protected areas ,200 km from these towns (Ghana’s largest wildlife park, Mole National Park, to the south-west, Gbele Game Production Reserve to the west and Nazinga Game Reserve ,40 km to the north in Burkina Faso).
Methods
Data collection We surveyed bushmeat traded in the Sandema, Fumbisi and Chiana markets during October 2018–October 2019.A three-member team (HNKS, a field assistant and a trained local assistant) visited the markets in the mornings before the traders started selling their bushmeat and stayed throughout the day until the traders departed from the market. The markets are open only on market days, once per week for the Fumbisi and Chiana markets and twice per week for Sandema. Data were collected on two consecu- tive market days within a 2-week period every other month. On each visit all traders were asked for consent to collect in- formation on their bushmeat carcasses traded that day, with the assurance that all personal information would remain confidential and their identities anonymized. The surveys involved direct observations of the species
and counts of bushmeat carcasses on sale. To avoid double counting of bushmeat carcasses during each survey, each member of the team was allocated to a specific group of tra- ders and stayed with them throughout the day. The traders
Oryx, 2023, 57(2), 216–227 © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605322000096
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