Bushmeat trade in northern Ghana 223


passing through all three markets was destined for other locations, mostly major markets in southern Ghana. This long-distance trade was particularly important in Fumbisi and Chiana in terms of biomass, where traders sold their stock almost exclusively to traders in urban centres (85% for Fumbisi, 98% for Chiana), who purchased and then distributed the meat even more widely. Of the bushmeat carcasses purchased by wholesalers in Fumbisi for resale in urban markets (526 of 6,608;c. 2,052 kg of meat), the bulk (79% of the biomass) was transported via road to Buipe market, an important but previously undocumented bushmeat hub c. 237 km south of Fumbisi (Fig. 5). Another 6%of the meatwas transported.500kmsouthwards to the major city of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. In Chiana, of the 2,946 kg of meat (164/181 carcasses) purchased by whole- salers for resale in urban markets, 91% was transported to Kumasi (608 km away) and 7% to Sefwi-Wiawso in the Western North Region (c. 720 km away). Some meat was also transported even further south to the capital city Accra. Our data underlined differences in species composition


between local and long-distance trades. The majority (95%) of bushmeat carcasses traded locally were of am- phibians and smaller-bodied animals (Fig. 6). The long- distance trade was dominated by larger-bodied animals and included mostly rodents (36%), lagomorphs (20%) and pri- mates (18%).Wholesalers did not purchase amphibians for


long-distance trade to urban markets. Conversely, primates and ungulates were purchased exclusively for long-distance trade to southern markets (Fig. 6).


Discussion


Species composition and trade volumes Frogs were by far the most commonly traded species we encountered. Two of these frog species, edible bullfrog and African groove-crowned frog Hoplobatrachus occipitalis, have also been reported as heavily traded elsewhere in West Africa (Mohneke et al., 2010). The large trade in frogs in our study indicates that they provide an important source of protein, although this seems likely to be for local consumption. This conclusion is supported by the fact that frogs have not been reported in studies of urban markets in southern Ghana (e.g. Cowlishaw et al., 2005; McNamara et al., 2016). This finding highlights amarked difference be- tween northern and southern markets. In southern markets, rodents and ungulates usually dominate the trade, account- ing for .90% of trade volumes (in terms of total carcass- es) in some instances. These trends have been reported in southern markets such as Kantamanto (Ntiamoa-Baidu, 1998, 2016), Takoradi (Cowlishaw et al., 2005) and Kumasi


FIG. 5 Bushmeat trade flow patterns in the rural–urban commodity chain in Ghana based upon our market surveys in Fumbisi and Chiana, showing the importance of southern urban markets for the bushmeat trade in the north. (a) Long-distance trade and (b, c) local trade. The arrows illustrate the directions of trade and the widths of the arrows are proportional to the volumes of bushmeat traded (in kg) with the exception of the Fumbisi source data which is not to scale.


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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