The Chief Executive officer of Boris B’s farms and veterinary services is calling on the Bank of Ghana to revise existing policies and regulatory framework to make it more favorable for Ghanaian agribusinesses.
Dr. Boris Baidoo who was speaking to Rite FM’s Agric Forum on Saturday insisted that the Central Bank’s policies is hostile to the well-being of agribusinesses with a special emphasis on poultry.
He said Ghana’s poultry farmers are struggling to survive, crippling competition from their counterparts in developed countries as the country imports $200 million worth of chicken every year.
Dr. Boris Baidoo said worse still, imported chicken is being sold at below the cost of local chicken, and farmers in Ghana simply cannot compete — resulting in the collapse of dozens of farms and the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Dr Boris says interventions and policies from the central bank is vital at this crucial time to improve production.
Adding that the major factors behind the declining state of Ghana’s poultry industry are varied and complex, but the most significant is government policy towards the sector’s growth to significantly turn the fortune of the poultry industry.
In the interview, Dr. Baidoo was so frustrated that he rained curses on the officials of the Central Bank for their failure to support the growth of the poultry industry.
“…if you are a worker at the Bank of Ghana and it is not in your interest to protect and project the local poultry industry, and you sit here and consume local eggs, I hold in my hands eggs, that if you buy eggs and chicken to consume, the effect will be on you’’ he cried.
‘’We have to develop our country, all poultry farms are collapsing as a result of poor policy direction from the bank of Ghana and commercial banks”, he stressed.
He accused some banks of sourcing funds from International Banks for agricultural purposes, but later use it for other intended purposes.
“They go for relaxed loans under the pretence of lending to agriculture players for agriculture activities, but they tend to commercialize it with high-interest rates to the farmers; this is serious,” he lamented.
“Why are we collapsing our business ourselves, I mean the BOG should sit up, we cannot sit here and suffer. Enough is enough under this policy direction of the BoG, we creating jobs for farmers in other countries while ours struggle to survive”, he emphasized
Chief Executive officer of Boris B’s farms and veterinary services lauded the president for his effort and policies toward the development of the sector.
By: Austin Ofori Addo/ritefmonline.org
