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The Managing Director of the Ghana-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (GHANECC), Mr Nico Van Staalduinen, last week stirred controversy when he suggested to the government not to concentrate on poultry production because Ghana lacked the competitive advantage in that sector. According to him, the conditions in Ghana do not favour poultry production and urged the government to focus on areas such as rice production, among other things, where it had the competitive advantage. Making a contribution during the GRAPHIC BUSINESS/FIDELITY BANK Breakfast Meeting in Accra on June 15, he categorically called on the government to stop investing in the production of poultry, and explained that the high temperatures in the country, high cost of poultry feed and frequent outbreak of bird flu made it uncompetitive for the country to undertake commercial rearing of the birds. But his assertion was vehemently opposed by a renowned film producer, Mr Kow Ansah, who wondered whether Mr Staalduinen had conducted any studies to arrive at his conclusion. He cited the early 80s and 90s when Ghana had many poultry farmers who produced on a large scale to meet local demand for exports. �We have done it before and we can still do it; We do not need you to come tell us what we are competitive in or not; the examples of Darko Farms and Afariwa farms are there to show�, he argued fiercely to an extent that the moderator for the function had to step in to calm tempers. His call comes at a time when the government is preparing a GHC50 million package to revive the ailing poultry industry. The funding is expected to resuscitate dying companies, start new businesses,as well as set up small scale processing plants to process the birds for the local market. The venture is expected to help reduce the country�s over-dependence on imported poultry, which is currently costing government some US$350 million annually. The outgoing Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, had met with the members of the poultry association to assure them of the government�s support to restore the fortunes of the poultry sector. Giants in the industry such as Afariwa Farms and Darko Farms, which combined with many others, supplied to meet local demand and for exports, have both collapsed, leaving a few in operation. Arguing further in favour of his position in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS, Mr Staalduinen insisted that instead of channelling money into a venture that might yield no results, he said the country was better off using that money to support sectors that it had competitive advantage. �Technically, Ghana can produce chicken but Ghana can ever hardly be competitive in the growth of chicken because the varieties of chickens that are preferred at the global market today are not favourable in Ghana because of the weather. Unless Ghana considers starting from the scratch to develop a good variety of chicken that will do well in Ghana, it will be uncompetitive to engage in commercial poultry production� he explained. While admitting that government�s efforts at reviving the poultry industry was also supported by the Netherlands government, the CEO of the GHANECC said it did not take out the fact that Ghana�s present circumstances made it uncompetitive in the commercial poultry business. Mr Staalduinen held the view that chickens that were reared in temperatures above 28 Degree Celsius got drenched quickly because of the high temperature. That, he said, meant that places such as Europe, where temperatures are milder, if five or 10 day old chickens would die in a day, 60 or 100 day old chickens would die in Ghana in a day because of the high temperature. Having worked in the poultry industry in Netherlands before coming to Ghana, Mr Staalduinen explained that �a chicken that takes 40 days in Europe to gain slaughter weight will take not less than 60 days in Ghana to gain weight because chickens in Ghana drink a lot of water.� Feeding challenges He said Ghana was not able to produce enough maize for human consumption and would, therefore, be forced to import some to feed poultry should it go into commercial production. This argument is on the back of the fact that Ghana is still not self-sufficient in maize production and has to rely on imports to make up for local demand. Using his own country as an example, Mr Staalduinen said Netherlands could not compete favourably with Ghana in cassava production because his country did not have the right temperature needed for cassava to thrive and hence the need for Ghana to take advantage of its location and rather invest in cassava, tilapia, oil palm, maize and other areas where it had competitive advantage. He pointed out that the Ghana poultry industry did well in the past because it was difficult to export poultry to Ghana because of factors such as high duty chargers but the situation was not the same at the moment and, therefore, Ghana should look carefully for its strong points where it had the advantage. Poultry Association reacts The Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers has disagreed with suggestions that the country is not competitive in poultry production, hence the need for government to channel its resources in other sectors. According to the association, the local poultry industry was producing its 40 per cent production quota currently, and with more government interventions, it could up its capacity. Poultry association reacts In a related development, the Chairman of the Poultry Farmers Association of Ghana, Mr Kwadwo Asante, has described the suggestions made by the Managing Director of the Ghana Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (GHANECC), Mr Staalduinen, as baseless. He told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS on July 18 that �The government intervention is creating more market for us. Since government does not want to ban poultry importation outright, gradually we are going to take up full production quota at 100 per cent,� he explained. According to him, birds being raised from the Akati and Darko Farms were surviving in the same conditions that Mr Van Staalduinen cited as unconducive for the country and subsequently belaboured the assertion that Ghana would be uncompetitive in poultry production.