Liberia Beef

Facts about beef in Liberia

• Liberians are said to lump the term dog meat and bush meat together. A local animal welfare group claimed 75% of Liberians consume dog meat. However- that group was also seeking donations and may have estimated high.
• Western scientists feel that the consumption and preparation of meat from monkeys- fruit bats- and other forest animals in Liberia is behind the transmission of Ebola- and possibly a new super virus- which if left uncontrolled could kill a third of the world’s population.
• When the Ebola disease started in Liberia in March- 2014- the government of Liberia placed a ban on the hunting and eating of all bush meat as one of the effective ways of fighting the spread of the Ebola disease. The banning of bush meat consumption in the country was highly appreciated by the Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society
• Meat consumption correlates with income; poorer individuals and countries tend to consume less than their wealthier counterparts. This applies to Liberia- one of the poorest nations in the world- which has an annual per capita income of about 374 dollars and an annual per capita meat consumption of about 10.4 kilograms/kg (22.9 pounds/lbs.).
• Unlike most countries in the world- including many of its neighbors- Liberia has lower levels of meat consumption than it did fifty years ago. Today- average per capita consumption is slightly less than it was in 1961- when Liberia’s meat consumption was above that of most other Sub-Saharan African countries and three times higher than that of China.