As cattle rustling has expanded in Burkina Faso and Togo since 2018, supply chains connecting cattle rustlers and merchants in the tri-border area to merchants and markets in Ghana have also developed. This section details these supply chains. However, before doing so it is important to note that the intensification of cattle rustling in Burkina Faso and deeper connections with Ghana’s economy coincided with the depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi (GHS). This depreciation has had the effect of making cattle imported into Ghana from Burkina Faso, Togo and even Côte d’Ivoire relatively more expensive for Ghanaian traders and merchants. Indeed, multiple respondents, particularly near the border with Togo, indicated in late 2023 that transactions from cedis to CFA francs had become far less lucrative, causing some to temporarily stop trading between the two countries.[51]
However, despite the negative effect of depreciation, we find that Ghana has remained the destination for stolen cattle for three reasons. First, the cattle trade is sometimes conducted in CFA francs; larger Ghanaian traders hold and trade in foreign reserves, which means that their purchasing power in Ghana increases.[52] Second, the relatively high profit margins from trading stolen livestock mean that while margins have shrunk, the trade remains relatively profitable.[53] Third, security considerations seem to trump financial considerations. As insecurity makes exporting to Togo, Benin and (to a lesser extent) Côte d’Ivoire more difficult, Ghana is the only country where stolen cattle can be mixed relatively easily with licit trade flows.[54] Traders seem to have accepted that their profits are slightly smaller than they could theoretically be.
Post-2022: Insurgents’ reliance on butchers and traders in the cattle supply chain
Initially, insurgents in Burkina Faso brought stolen livestock to cattle markets in that country and sold the cattle themselves. Over time, they developed relations with Burkinabe (and later Togolese) butchers and cattle dealers who bought directly from them in forested areas, sometimes even exchanging livestock for crucial supplies such as fuel and food. Reports of insurgents selling directly to Ghanaians were rare.[55]
Following the expansion of the VDP in late 2022, the supply lines in Burkina Faso changed. Unable to visit urban areas now patrolled by the VDP, insurgents relied more on butchers and merchants willing to visit them in the forest.[56] Furthermore, respondents indicated that a handful of rogue VDP were also part of the supply chain, engaged in cattle rustling.[57] In addition, since mid-2023, a small number of individual VDP members have been accused of collaborating with insurgents by buying their livestock at very low prices and selling them to butchers and merchants across the tri-border area.[58] This has been facilitated by the continued ability of rogue VDP members to travel between rural and urban areas in Burkina Faso, as well as to Togo and Ghana.[59] The Burkinabe government appears to be aware of these developments and, since mid-2024 has reportedly intercepted multiple cattle dealers, investigated rogue VDP units, and temporarily closed cattle markets in Bittou and Cinkassé, leading to further ruptures in the supply chain.[60]
Meanwhile, northern Togo has also taken on a more prominent role in regional cattle supply chains, despite a ban on transhumance in 2021. Both rogue VDP members and insurgents are keen to move livestock far from where they were stolen, which has led to an increase of stolen Burkinabe livestock entering northern Togo.[61] While much of the trans-border trade is focused on Cinkassé (following the deployment of Togolese counter-insurgency operations in the once-large cattle market of Koudjouaré), respondents indicated that stolen cattle were also directed further south through intermediaries in Mango and Kuka (a small village near Saboba).[62] As insurgents have infiltrated northern Togo, in some communities they appear to have forged relations with butchers and, to a lesser extent, cattle dealers. For example, one respondent indicated that Togolese butchers in Mango and Kuka buy directly from insurgents and slaughter cattle locally or sell them into Ghana.[63]
Current supply chains overlap with pre-war routes
While the escalation of the war has exacerbated cattle rustling and transformed the value chain in Burkina Faso and Togo, in Ghana stolen livestock still generally move along the same pathways as they did before the war.
Once a deal is made, Burkinabe or Togolese traders bring cattle to a pre-arranged location on the border.[64] They are met by herders or cargo tricycle drivers who bring the livestock into Ghana through forests and hills on the Burkinabe border or over the Oti River on the Togolese border, usually under the cover of darkness.[65] If the cattle have been purchased by a large-scale dealer, they will be loaded into a large truck and taken further south for slaughter in places such as Accra, Wa, Techiman or Kumasi. However, if the livestock have been purchased by a smaller dealer or butcher, they may be sent to an intermediary cattle market in the north such as Bolgatanga or Tamale; or otherwise sold to local butchers or restaurant owners where they will be slaughtered individually.[66]