Cheap Chicken ?

The decision has been made to increase the imports of chicken into Jamaica for Christmas.  The ministry of agriculture says it’s to satisfy demand over the busy period and to give shoppers a cheap alternative to locally sourced chicken.

I think it’s terribly short sighted and likely to backfire at a time when food security is really on shaky ground in Jamaica. 

Local farmers  say that they have already factored in the increased demand over Christmas and are obviously very worried about their business.  It would have to be made clear that the import permits are only for the christmas period – but even if they are (which is far from clear) it will be bad for the local economy as money that could have been going into the Jamaican economy is going out – on yet more imports. 

Yes Jamaicans love their chicken – go to any one of KFC restaurants or, as I prefer get some chicken cooking on the red hills road on a friday night in Kingston and ask the people if they would pay a little more for their chicken if they thought this would keep prices on a level.  By damaging the local poultry industry in this way, depresses local income and leaves Jamaica even more wide open to currency fluctuations and yet more rising food prices in the future.