Former chairman of Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, Dr. Ken Quartey has cautioned policy makers not replicate the same mistakes made in other sectors of the economy by prioritizing foreign investment, which he claims has not yielded the benefits envisaged. Dr. Quartey said governments over the years have paid major attention to foreign investments hoping, that will create the type of development needed for the growth of the nation but that has failed. Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Tuesday, Dr. Quartey was contributing to a discussion on evaluating manifesto proposals by the various political parties on how to improve the agricultural sector. “We have had experiences from the past that many of the things they [politicians] are saying today have already been said…,” Dr. Quartey observed, saying that politicians are yet to show commitment in implementing most of the policies they put in their manifestos. For instance, he said some of the manifestos speak of making land accessible to investors but quizzed: “Access to land for whom and by whom? Who is to access the land?” He said such policies only make lands available to foreign investors, stressing such policies undermine local investors. The former chairman of Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers added that “we have got sufficient experience to show that foreign investment has not helped this country so much…” “The other sectors of the economy are there, which we can attest to that foreign investment never created the type of development that we wanted; it did not create the type of jobs that we want. Therefore when we come to agriculture…we should be careful that we don’t repeat the type of foreign investment that we've had in the other sectors”. “It’s not that we are against foreign investment,” he stressed, “but foreign investment must complement and create opportunities for local producers to grow.” “Any foreign investment that seeks to displace local producers and drive away people from the sector is not desirable.” The Deputy General Secretary of General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), Edward Kareweh who agreed with the points raised by Dr. Quartey added that, it was time for policy makers to realize that agriculture - all over the world – is not practiced on a free-market, free-trade basis. Oftentimes, he contended, policies made do not seek to increase local production to meet demand or secure markets for local produce but rather encourage importation of agricultural products such as poultry. The situation, he emphasised, leads to a decline in production and put people out of work. He insisted that for “agriculture to rise to the challenge”, capital should be mobilized “in the direction of agriculture…” “As a country… we've over relied on external institutions to guide us as to how to go about our policies for development instead of looking within to develop our policies that will meet our local needs…”