Bush Meat in Kenya

For East Africans reading this article on bushmeat from Ghana, be warned! The bushmeat situation in East Africa is different from West Africa. The drivers are different, the dynamic of the trade is different and the Laws on hunting are very different. For example, eating bushmeat is strongly founded on the West Africans cultures while in East Africa most culture did not allow eating of game meat (not anymore today). That is why bushmeat is a delicacy that only the rich can afford in urban centers in Ghana. In Kenya, bushmeat (not game meat!!) is mostly for the poor – those who cannot afford domestic meat. It is illegal and unscrupulous traders sell the meat through underground trade networks, posing a serious public health hazard to the unsuspecting consumers. In Ghana, you are able to buy bushmeat on the streets as you can see from the photos below (however, I didn’t buy);

Bushmeat sellers on the roadside on Accra-Mankessim road. I am holding two Cane rats worth about $ 40!! No Kenya would pay even $5 for that!

Smoking the cane rat, ‘akrantie’

Ghana: We Love Bush Meat

Cephas 28 August 2009

Ghanaians spend over US$200 million annually on grass cutters, antelopes, bats, even monkeys! A story going round the sites of many websites on Ghana and which has hardly received any mention in the local Ghanaian media is about a Ghanaian culinary delight that unites Ghanaians. Read more

Technorati : Bush meat, Bushmeat trade, Ghana, Health risk, Poachers, hunting