Barbados Agricultural Society Urges Review of Chicken Wing Imports Over Local Farmers' Livelihoods

The contentious issue of chicken wing imports has once again been thrust into the spotlight by the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), which argues that the demand for the imported poultry products is artificially inflated to benefit a select few, whilst jeopardising the livelihoods of local farmers.

James Paul, the unapologetic CEO of BAS, delivered a strong critique in an interview with Barbados TODAY on Thursday, asserting that the promotion of imported chicken wings was detrimental to the nation’s agricultural sector and accused proponents of perpetuating a harmful falsehood.

“Some people are continuing to promote this lie that chicken wings are good for this country,” declared Paul. “Chicken wings are a contrived demand in this country, designed to benefit certain individuals, and they all know who. I want Barbadians, even those who claim to like chicken wings so much, to understand that they are not helping our local farmers by continuing to promote this lie.”

Paul emphasised that the importation of chicken wings disadvantaged local poultry producers and noted that other parts of the chicken were healthier and more beneficial. He highlighted the BAS’ efforts to support farmers, particularly smallholders, through marketing assistance and identifying markets for their produce.

“When we support the importation of so much chicken wings, this clearly is to the disadvantage of our local farmers. There are other parts of the chicken which are much more healthy,” he stressed.

The BAS chief executive also highlighted broader concerns about Barbados’ trade imbalance and reliance on imported foodstuffs. He advocated for increased focus on exports and import substitution, citing pumpkins and sweet potatoes as examples of crops that could be easily grown domestically.

“This should never be a case in this country where we actually import pumpkins. I am sorry for our Caribbean neighbours, but this generosity being given to our Caribbean neighbours to import products that we can easily produce in this country is inflicting pain on us here, because we have to use valuable foreign exchange to finance imports,” Paul lamented. “Does that make sense for a developing country like Barbados? It cannot.”

Paul questioned the country’s commitment to food security, suggesting that importing easily producible food items frustrates local farmers. He contended that local producers were capable of increasing their output and cited examples of potential growth in poultry, pork, milk, and various crops such as yams and tomatoes.

“These are crops that we can actually increase. One of the things we need to pay attention to is the necessity for research to enhance agricultural practices,” Paul said, expressing gratitude to Michelle Singh from the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) for collaborating with local farmers.

The BAS CEO also revealed that the association was set to launch a social media campaign to advocate for the consumption of local produce, aiming to balance the market and support the island’s agricultural community.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb