2024-08-05 22:13:29
Insecurity, livestock theft, attacks by armed groups or arrests by law enforcement, transhuman herdsmen and cattle traders in the Sahel face many risks.
From our special correspondent in Ghana,
Tulaku Market, Accra, is the largest meat market in Ghana. There are billions of cattle and cows. ” The road to Burkina Faso has become very dangerous due to security problems », Explain this man, who comes from the Sahelian country. He came in a truck with his animals. He had sold five by the end of the day. But coming from Burkina Faso means exposing yourself to many risks. ” We must face the distrust of security forces and terrorists. So it’s a real problem to get around », he added.
Issaka, for his part, must now cross Togo to go to Burkina Faso. Worse: two years ago, it was attacked in Burkina Faso. ” The armed men stole 9 million CFA francs from me. And after this incident, I have nothing left with me. So I have had to live on credit since then. I come and go, and I have debts », he complained.
This Burkinabè is one of the few traders who still go to their country. He is doing all this to help his family, who no longer have livestock and have moved to a refugee camp.
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Changing supply routes
Other merchants refused the trip which was too dangerous. Mahmoud Diallo, also Burkinabe and living in Accra for many years, has nothing to go to the Sahel. He found another alternative. ” There are bandits who always block the road, taking all the animals to go with them. Earlier, we bought the cows in Burkina and brought them here. But now, because of safety, we can’t buy it. That is why we go to Togo or Benin and bring the animals back here », Mahmoud Diallo explained.
In a market in the north of Ghana, in Gunayili, we met another livestock trader, who also came from Burkina Faso, but had been living in Ghana for a long time. ” Many people are going far to Ghana, with livestock or even owning livestock, because they are fleeing violence and want to save their lives. People tend to run away when they are pushed out », he testified.
In Ghana, all the livestock traders we meet, indigenous or not, hope for peace in the Sahel.
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