Demand for livestock picking up in Ashaiman Tulaku

Livestock dealers in Tulaku, a livestock hub and a suburb of Ashaiman, are warming up to the gradual rise in demand for their goods, two days to Christmas.

In a chat with the Ghana News Agency, the livestock sellers said buyers were flocking the market to either buy a live goat, mutton or meat as they prepared towards celebrating the yuletide.

They indicated that sales were picking up well compared to that of the 2019 season which saw low sales during the period.

According to the butchers, sizeable live goats sold between GH¢500 and GH¢600 while a pound each of mutton, boneless meat and bone-in meat was priced at Gh¢15, GH¢13, and GH¢12 respectively.

Mr Suley Issah, a butcher, said, “this year has been a blessing, the market is good, it’s far better than that of last year, since last week, people have been coming around to buy goat and sheep for the Christmas”.

“Market is booming and we thank God. These days, when we slaughter two big cows in a day, they sell all the beef. We had it was very difficult to sell even one cow some days ago."

"People buying now and we thank God because this year is better than the previous years”, Mr Somaila Amadu, a butcher said

They, however, called on the government to intensify the “Rearing for Food and Jobs” project by investing more in livestock farming through the provision of logistics including agro-chemicals, and farm inputs to farmers across the country to revamp the livestock sector.

They noted that the country’s livestock population was not enough to meet demand forcing them to bring some from Burkina Faso, Togo, Mali and other neighbouring countries.

They added that buying livestock from outside Ghana was expensive which tend to increase their cost of doing business due to the high exchange rate.

Mr Ali Mohammad, a butcher said, “government must invest in livestock farming in Ghana, especially in the Northern part of the country so that, we will not be going to Mali and other countries to buy”.

As the restrained animals bleat and moo in the row of pegs waiting for their slaughter, these Moslem livestock dealers relish the festive season not meant for them and wish that Christmas comes around often.

With every ebbing bleating and kick, they rake in good money from those whom Christmas mean so much to in this busy market along the Tema Akosombo highway.