An exploration of the role of bushmeat in Ghana’s rural communities Justine Shanti Alexander September 2011 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science and the Diploma of Imperial College London Table of Contents List of Figures ..............................................................................................................................3 List of Tables................................................................................................................................4 Acronyms......................................................................................................................................4 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................7 1.1 The Bushmeat crisis...............................................................................................................7 1.2 Importance of this research..................................................................................................7 1.3 Aim and objectives.................................................................................................................8 1.4 Thesis structure......................................................................................................................9 2. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................10 2.1 Bushmeat Commodity Chain .............................................................................................10 2.1.1 Commodity Chain Overview..........................................................................................10 2.1.2 Hunting: Bushmeat Supply.............................................................................................11 2.1.3 Consumption: Bushmeat Demand..................................................................................12 2.2 The Livelihood Approach ...................................................................................................12 2.2.1 Importance of hunting in rural livelihoods.....................................................................12 2.2.2 Hunting interlinked with other livelihood activities.......................................................14 2.4 Bushmeat in Ghana .............................................................................................................15 2.4.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................15 2.4.2 Study Site: Ashanti region..............................................................................................16 3. METHODS ..........................................................................................................17 3.1 Data Collection.....................................................................................................................17 3.1.1 Selection of Villages.......................................................................................................17 3.1.2 Research assistant...........................................................................................................18 3.1.3 Key informants & Focus Groups....................................................................................18 3.1.4 Household Sampling method..........................................................................................19 3.1.5 Structured Household Interviews ...................................................................................19 3.1.6 Interviews with specific target groups............................................................................20 3.1.7 Ethics ..............................................................................................................................21 3.2 Statistical analysis................................................................................................................21 3.2.1 Descriptive Analysis.......................................................................................................21 4. RESULTS.............................................................................................................23 4.1 What role does hunting play in people’s livelihoods? ......................................................23 4.1.1 Livelihood Strategies Overview .....................................................................................23 4.1.2 Hunting as a livelihood strategy .....................................................................................25 1 4.1.3 Households hunting on their farms.................................................................................26 4.1.4 Formal members of Hunters Associations......................................................................27 4.1.5 Hunters with dogs...........................................................................................................28 4.1.6 Hunter Livelihood Profiles .............................................................................................30 4.1.7 Hunting Patterns .............................................................................................................30 4.1.8 Hunting as a source of income generation......................................................................35 4.1.9 Livelihood concerns related to hunting ..........................................................................38 4.2 Bushmeat consumption .......................................................................................................40 4.2.1 Overview of the bushmeat commodity chain.................................................................40 4.2.2 Consumption Overview..................................................................................................42 4.2.3 Bushmeat consumption pattern ......................................................................................43 4.2.4 Relationship between preference and consumption .......................................................44 4.2.5 The role of price .............................................................................................................47 4.2.6 The role of Availability ..................................................................................................47 4.2.7 Bushmeat consumption at chopbars & drinking bars.....................................................50 4. DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................51 4.1 Hunting as a means of pest management ..........................................................................51 4.2 Hunting interlinked with other livelihood activities.........................................................52 4.3 Hunters with dogs: responding to market signals ............................................................53 4.4 Firearm Hunters: A shift in livelihood from hunting to agriculture?............................54 4.5 A decline in household consumption of bushmeat............................................................55 4.7 Implications for current and future policy action in Ghana ...........................................56 4.8 Implications for future research ........................................................................................58 4.9 Concluding remarks............................................................................................................60 REFERENCES........................................................................................................61 APPENDICES .........................................................................................................68 Appendix 1: Hunter Association Constitutions ......................................................................68 2.1: Kwaman Hunter Association............................................................................................68 2.2: Jachie Hunter Association ................................................................................................68 Appendix 2: List of cited bushmeat species.............................................................................69 Appendix 3: Ghana’s Wildlife Laws and Regulations ...........................................................70 Appendix 4: Household Questionnaire....................................................................................71 Appendix 5: Hunter Questionnaire..........................................................................................74 Appendix 6: Trader/Chopbar/Drinkingbar Questionnaire...................................................76 2 List of Figures Figure 2.1: Bushmeat Commodity Chain Takoradi, Ghana. ...........................................................11 Figure 3.1: Map of Ghana, showing the road route between Kumasi and the two study sites; Kwaman and Jachie. ...................................................................................................................17 Figure 4.1.1a: Percentage of economically active population involved in each livelihood activity carried out by males and females in the village Kwaman ..........................................................24 Figure 4.1.1b Percentage of economically active population involved in each ..............................25 livelihood activity carried out by males and females in Jachie village ......................................25 Figure 4.1.2: The hunting households motives