Migration and Meatification: Ghana’s Urban Protein Economy

Africa is experiencing a rapid urban transformation that is fundamentally reconfiguring urban food environments, value chains, and consumption behaviour. At the heart of this shift is the meatification of urban diets, characterized by increased consumption of animal-source proteins. This paper examines the dynamics of Ghana’s urban protein economy, focusing on the critical yet invisible role of West African migrants in sustaining Accra’s livestock and meat value chains. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the study draws on a survey of 50 international migrants and 30 in-depth interviews with livestock merchants and butchers across four major livestock markets serving the protein economy. The paper shows a high dependence on live animal imports from the Sahel, particularly from Burkina Faso, to meet escalating urban demand. The meat value chain and informal livestock trade networks are powered by migrant labour and entrepreneurship. However, these actors face significant challenges, including poor infrastructure, lack of cold-chain technology, and inconsistent oversight. The paper concludes that policy interventions should recognise the essential contribution of the informal meat value chain and that heavy-handed formalization would disrupt the regional system that sustains the urban poor’s access to protein.