Abstract:
Wild meat (or bushmeat) is consumed as a luxury item in many African cities. By contrast, bushmeat is an
important source of food and income for many poor households in rural areas. To curb the flow of bushmeat
from rural to urban areas, understanding drivers of demand in city markets, and their impact on hunter revenues
remains fundamental. Here, we present a simple econometric model for the trade of a commercially important
bushmeat species in Ghana, the grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus). We explore own-price and cross-price
elasticity of demand of grasscutter meat relative to commonly consumed alternative meats (goat, beef, poultry
and fish) in the Atwemonom market in Kumasi city, Ghana. We show that: 1) grasscutter demand is elastic to its
own price, 2) beef has an elastic cross-price elasticity, and 3) grasscutter is a luxury good, highly sensitive to
consumer income. The elastic nature of the market suggests that price control policies e.g. “wild meat” tax, could
reduce demand. Given that beef is the best substitute in our study area, we suggest that investment in Ghana’s
underdeveloped cattle industry may reduce wildlife demand while also supporting herding economies. Critically,
our results demonstrated that policies that aim to reduce bushmeat demand are likely to impact hunter revenues.
This finding underscores the need for complimentary investments in the rural economy to drive incomes and offset
any revenue losses as a result of a decline in bushmeat demand.
