‘Stop patronizing foreign poultry’

The Chief Director of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Nana Oduro-Kwarteng says the rise in the importation of poultry products into Ghana is collapsing the local poultry industry.

According to him, “Ghana’s poultry farmers are crying. They can’t meet the competition from outside.”

He therefore called on all stakeholders, particularly those in the country’s hospitality sector, to consume local poultry products.

Mr. Oduro-Kwarteng made the appeal at a national stakeholders’ advocacy forum held on Thursday in Accra.

The forum, held under the theme: ‘A National Green Infrastructure Policy – A catalyst for Tourism Development In Ghana,’ was organized by the Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) with support from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

It offered participants the platform to advocate the development of a Green Infrastructure Policy in the country.

According to Nana Oduro-Kwarteng, the poultry industry in Ghana has virtually been taken over by foreigners, particularly Chinese and Indians, among others.

“The domestic poultry industry is being wiped off because of the importation of poultry products from countries like China and Singapore,” he said.

The chief director partly attributed the development to what he termed policy failure on the part of the government, saying there was a huge policy failure in the nation’s development and trade agenda.

He said that government’s trade policy continues to create an enabling environment for expatriates to make “money and take away whilst indigenes remain in abject poverty.”

Local hoteliers have stopped dealing with domestic poultry producers because of their inability to consistently supply the quantity of products, he indicated.

In an interview, he told BUSINESS GUIDE that hoteliers have also raised serious concerns about the sizes of local poultry products.

“The local hotels are saying that they want consistent supply. They want birds that measure up to a certain size,” he said.

He called for an effective collaboration between the Ministries of Food and Agriculture and Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts to address the various concerns.

Calling for the adoption of a comprehensive Green Infrastructure Policy in Ghana, he said a “green economy must focus on improving well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.”

President of GHATOF, Nana Anim, in his welcome remarks, said “the wanton destruction of our physical environment and the growing emphasis on the development of concrete, glass and steel structures is rapidly undermining the development of green parks and other vegetation in Ghana.”