Public Health Risk, Consumer Behaviour, and Gendered Livelihoods: Wild Meat Trade Dynamics in Ghana During and After COVID-19

Bushmeat (wild meat) trade provides critical livelihoods in Ghana but is also implicated in zoonotic disease risk and conservation debates. Despite extensive scholarship on wildlife trade and COVID-19, limited research has examined how pandemic-driven health risk perceptions reshaped bushmeat consumption patterns and gendered trade dynamics. This paper addresses that gap. Drawing on the Health Belief Model (HBM), we extend its application beyond individual risk perception to examine how perceived susceptibility, severity, and cues to action interacted with pandemic-related socio-economic disruptions to influence both consumer behaviour and trader adaptation strategies in urban Ghana. Utilising a mixed-methods design, we analyse survey data from 255 consumers through descriptive statistics and chi-square tests and 10 in-depth interviews with traders across five major markets in Accra, Ghana using thematic analysis. Findings reveal that pandemic-related fear, media narratives linking wildlife to zoonoses, and mobility restrictions significantly reduced demand, disrupting the entire bushmeat value chain. Women traders, who dominate retail markets, experienced disproportionate income loss and business instability. Traders’ coping strategies extended beyond savings and informal borrowing to include product diversification, flexible pricing, and relational trust-building – forms of pragmatic resilience rather than purely psychological adaptation. The study highlights how public health messaging, risk communication, and informal market governance intersect to shape post-pandemic recovery trajectories. It suggests that value-chain actors can enhance their resilience by diversifying income sources, participating in collective savings schemes, and adopting improved hygiene practices prior to formal policy interventions. Future research should explore long-term shifts in protein substitution and informal market regulation in urban Africa.