Livestock Dealers In Distress

Even though the livestock sector has boosted agricultural development in Ghana, the trade has suffered setbacks in recent times due to the high cost of transportation and non-patronage.

Animal sellers at the Agbogbloshie and Kaneshie cow markets in Accra spoke out after a long season of distress that resulted in a decline in the sale of their stocks, throwing them into abject poverty.

CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE gathered that business activities have suffered because of non-patronage. The traders were seen sitting idle in anticipation of buyers but the high cost of the animals scared them away.

With the vast economic potential and natural resources that the country is endowed with, livestock dealers still travel to neighbouring countries, including Niger, Chad to buy animals.

The dealers seldom buy from towns because better animal breeds are found in the neighbouring countries.

What they obtained in Ghana are the local breeds that are usually small and low quality as against the imported ones.

Poverty and economic hardship, coupled with high inflation has discouraged people from patronizing the animals.

Due this development, many dealers have been forced out of business because they cannot withstand the enormous challenges that have bedeviled the livestock trade in the country.

Ibrahim Muntari, a livestock dealer at the Kaneshie cow market, noted that businesses are crucial to the economy but government did not provide capital to assist them.

He revealed that due to the deteriorating nature of the animal trade, a person who invests GH¢20,000 may end up losing a high fraction of his capital.

“This is as a result of the exorbitant prices that we purchase the animals and the high cost of transportation.

“Currently, a cow is sold for GH¢2,000 and the cost of transporting one from the Northern Region to Accra has increased from GH¢20 in April to GH¢30,” Muntari added.

Muntari explained that the livestock sector employs many people because of the high level of division of labour between the various chains, ranging from the dealers to the butchers and finally to the meat sellers.

He mentioned that due to the setbacks, many people have pulled out and vacated their stalls, triggering a pool of unemployed “army” who wait haplessly for God's intervention.

Muntari explained that lack of assistance from government has done more harm than good to the trade, which is very significant in sustaining the agricultural revolution in Ghana.

He challenged the government to proffer lasting solutions to boost animal production in the country, adding that it should assist them with soft loans and huge investments to maintain the trade in the country.

Another livestock dealer who gave his name as Saliu confirmed that the dealers mostly take loans to buy the animals but people rather collect them on credit.

“They take about seven to 10 days to payback. We encounter difficulties in transporting the animals from rural communities to the urban centers,” he said.

According to him, the sellers are often exposed to accidents due to the dilapidated condition of the road network in the country.

A cow seller, Mohammed Awal Idris lamented the low sales in the country.

Mr. Idris maintained that the rise in food prices had impacted negatively on the feed of the animals, increasing the price of animals.

He explained that the market was not favourable “as they are not often patronised due to persistent complains about economic hardship and the lack of money in the system.”

However, Idris explained that the animal market is a seasonal because it booms only during festive seasons, leaving them in a difficult situation afterwards.

Another trader, Umar Mohammed, lamented that the sales are not comparable to sales recorded some years ago.

“Even on market days, people do not buy the animals.

“Previously, one could buy a cow on credit and pay the owner back after selling but now the situation has changed; you have to pay in cash,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Government of Ghana has initiated a $4 million Livestock Development Programme (LDP) to benefit more than 21,000 livestock farmers in the country.

President John Evans Atta Mills, who announced this at the just-ended silver jubilee celebration of the National Farmers' Day in Tamale, said his administration had entered into a bilateral engagement with the government of Argentina to provide technical and financial assistance to increase productivity in the livestock sub-sector.

President Mills confirmed that for the next three years, his administration would make the country self-sufficient in rice production, noting that they would introduce local production of yellow maize for the livestock industry.

By Felix Dela Klutse