Why meat prices are going up in Ghana

There has been a sharp increase in the price of meat in local markets, chop bars, and restaurants in Ghana in recent times, shooting the cost of locally prepared food up.

XYZ News has been finding out what could be the possible cause of the rise in the prices of both dressed and cooked meat in the country.

Some consumers who spoke to Myxyzonline.com at Osu and Accra Central confirmed the price of chevon and beef, pork, and chicken had gone up.

One of them said the size of the meat he used to buy at GHS 7.00 a few months ago has shrunk and is now sold at GH¢10.00 at his usual eating joint at Osu.

Another lady met in one of the food joints at Osu also said she had been wondering what caused meat prices to jump instantly.

Locally prepared fufu and meat

“I am a woman, and I go to the market, so I know things are hard,” she added when she indicated she had come to realize she cannot do anything about it.

Cause of surge in meat price

When XYZ News’ Piesie Okrah got to the shores of James Town– the centre of meat production in Accra– consumers were already lamenting the jump in prices of livestock.

The place usually referred to as ‘Bodey’ is where sellers buy livestock such as cattle, sheep, and goats to sell at various markets such as Circle, Madina, Ashaiman, and beyond.

Blaise Bé-Uuvor, the National Secretary of the Livestock Dealers Association of Ghana, affirmed that they have had to adjust upwards the prices of their life and dressed animals.

“Recently, the prices of live animals have gone up because of the CFA. We import these animals from Burkina and Niger, but recently we have to get more cedis to get the amount of CFA we need to buy these live animals,” he lamented.

Obviously, the depreciation of the Cedi against major currencies has had an impact on the prices of animals bought from Burkina Faso to Ghana, with consumers bearing the brunt.

Mr. Bé-Uuvor said last year, GHS 35,000 could buy about 100 average-sized goats, but now he has to cough more than GH¢60,000 to get about 80-90 goats.

Selling live animals for the past 30 years, he is shocked at how fuel prices are going up at a faster rate, adding that the development is negatively affecting their trade.

He further appealed to the government to slash some taxes on the fuel price build-up to give some respite to Ghanaians, especially importers.

“Now we spend so much on transportation, so the government has to do something about it,” he added.

Goats and sheep are sold at Bodey, the leading livestock market in Accra.

Last week, the Ghana Statistical Service on Wednesday announced that surging food prices pushed the rate of inflation in May 2022 to 27.6%,

This is against 23.6% recorded that was recorded in April 2022.