The Pig Farmers Association of Ghana has launched the maiden edition of its Porktober festival to celebrate the consumption of pork and boost local production in Ghana.
The festival will be celebrated every year according to the association.
Speaking to Citi News at the launch, Interim President of the Association, Kwame Appiah Danquah explained that the festival will also be used to correct the impression that pigs are unhygienic animals and must not be consumed.
“October has been declared as National Pork Month in the United States and elsewhere and like such designations, pork is celebrated all month long so we have decided to launch the festival in October and name it Porktober and officially celebrate it in November,” the chairman said.
“In subsequent years we will come out with different ideas to make the festival interesting. Going forward, we will partner key institutions like the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to make the occasion bigger.”
Mr. Danquah added that various activities will be introduced to make the festival attractive.
“When you go to Germany and some part of Europe, they have the beer festival and even pork festival where they celebrate and educate people on the need to eat this delicacy,” he said.
Dennis Owusu Agyei, the representative of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture at the animal production directorate unit who was present at the launch indicated that the introduction of the festival has come to complement the government’s flagship program.
“It is actually in line with the government’s initiative; the rearing for food and jobs and I must say that this will also create jobs for the majority of the youth in the country.”
“Pig alone produces offspring twice in a year and they are in numbers so if the needed attention is given to this sector, I think it will solve the importation of meat by government,” he added.