‘Revamp meat industry to create jobs’
The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Professor Gabriel Ayum Teye, has called for the revamping of the meat industry to create jobs and generate revenue.
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He said currently, 90 per cent of meat products consumed in the country were imported from Burkina Faso and other European countries, adding that if the local meat industry was given the needed boost and attention, the country could cut back on the huge foreign exchange used for that purpose.
Prof. Teye made the call when he delivered his first inaugural lecture at the Tamale Campus of the UDS at the Tamale campus last Friday. His topic was, “The meat industry: a potential pivot for national development.”
The event was attended by a large number of people from the academic, industry, as well as members of the public.
Meat imports
Prof. Teye said Ghana was an absolute meat importer, adding that it spent $390,994.530 in 2011 on the importation of live animals and meat.
He said 12,000 goats were imported into the country from Burkina Faso in 2013 although the northern parts of the country had similar climate that could produce the needed quantities of meat for consumption and export.
“There is, therefore, the need for urgent steps to be taken to reverse this trend, since Ghana holds a great potential in the livestock and meat industries”.
Defunct meat factories
Prof. Teye also called for the revamping of Ghana's defunct meat processing factories located in different parts of the country.
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Citing the case of the Bolgatanga meat factory, he said many meat processing factories such as the one in Bolgatanga collapsed in the 1970s due to the decreased economic performance that invariably led to decreased demand for meat products.
He also expressed concern about the poor handling of meat by some butchers and called for the enforcement of rules governing meat production and handling, to enhance meat quality and also eliminate the unhygienic practices associated with the slaughtering and transportation of meat.
Vice Chancellor
The Vice Chancellor of the UDS, Prof. Haruna Yakubu, who chaired the lecture, said universities all over the world provided opportunities for senior members who attained the status of a full professorship to deliver inaugural lectures as part of their scholarship.
"Since 2014, inaugural lecturers are organised for our professors, and I hope and pray that this has come to stay as our academic senior members are focused on attaining the ultimate in their chosen profession.
We, therefore, see this inaugural lecture as a unique thing marking yet another milestone in the history of this university," Prof. Yakubu said.