Chicken - Haiti Observer Blog

Dominican Republic (DR) political extremist and radio talk-show host, Alvaro Arvelo, is outraged by the government of Haiti's (GOH) ban on chicken and egg products coming from the DR. The reason behind the ban is rumors have been circulating in GOH circles a bird-flu virus might have contaminated the fowl and its eggs.

Arvelo has personalized the issue, saying "Haitians are ungrateful; they hate the Dominicans." He hosts a political commentary program, "The Government of the Morning". On this occasion, Haiti was the target of his wrath. He is so incensed over this perceived slight of the GOH towards the DR; he demanded President Danilo Medina mount a military campaign and invade Haiti as soon as possible.

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Dominican Republic and Haiti are located on the same island which has a long and troubled history. For centuries people in the two countries have shared common history and shared their cultures but now, the borders of the two countries are all heated up because of chickens! On 6th of June Haiti refused to import agricultural products from Dominican Republic. This event coincided with the DR's deportation of immigrants from Haiti on a large scale.

On either sides of the border the protests have increased to significant scale as a result of which, the foreign ministers of both Dominican Republic and Haiti have failed to reach an agreement. Activities of product and people crossing borders have completed stopped in two borders out of total four shared by the two countries. Even binational markets that used to operate daily have completely stopped operations.

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Coming out of the recent ban on all poultry products from the Dominican Republic, the Veterinary Services of Haiti and its nearest neighbor met in a technical meeting held on June 19, 2012 to discuss the issues and come up with feasible solutions.

The results were that the ban on poultry would be lifted, allowing the critical trade from the Dominican Republic to continue, under certain restrictions. First, a committee of experts from the two countries, aided by outside organizations, will convene to create a protocol in regards to the treatment of the trade in light of the avian flu, which had been the cause of the ban initially.

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Dominican Media reported that the Haitian President Michel Martelly admitted that he lied over poultry products from the Dominican Republic.

According to Dominicantoday.com, Dominican President President Danilo Medina, during a meeting held on Sunday(6/30/13) with Michell Martelly and Haiti Foreign minister Pierre-Richard Casimir, the Haitian leader admitted that poultry products from the Dominican Republic are of good quality and that the Haitian ban was strictly economic.

The meeting was held during the summit of the Petrocaribe member nations in Nicaragua where the Haitian Government said that his country loses around $300 million in unpaid tax revenue due to chicken and eggs import from the Dominican Republic

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What you will need to make Poul ak Nwa - Chicken with Cashews
:
• 6 Chicken pieces (Three thighs and three legs preferably)
• 1 tbsp. of Tomato Paste
• 1 Lime
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 4 tbsp. parsley
• 4 tbsp. garlic
• 4 tbsp. thyme
• 4 tbsp. scallions
• Salt (to taste)
• 4 tbsp. onion powder
• 1 cup of cashews (raw)
• 2 tbsp. of Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp. of black pepper
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 large onion (red or white)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. chicken bouillon (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. of chopped hot pepper (optional)

What you should do:
1) Juice the lime and set juice aside.
2) Clean chicken pieces with the squeezed lime then rinse in cold water and use paper towel to pat the pieces dry.
3) Combine chicken and parsley, black pepper, garlic, thyme, onion powder, scallions, reserved lemon juice, salt and pepper, then marinate for two hours (preferably overnight).
4) In a heavy pot, add chicken and let stew on medium flame for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5) Boil cashews in a separate pot in water until cooked halfway. Drain and set water aside as well as cashews.
6) Empty pot of chicken and its juices, then add oil and tomato paste to the pot while stirring. Cook tomato paste for a few minutes and add chicken to be browned all around, stirring constantly to avoid sticking.
7) Add tomatoes, bouillon, onions and hot pepper. Cook for five minutes then stir in cashews, adding water from cashews as necessary.
8) Cook for a half hour or until chicken and cashews are cooked. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

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According to Haiti Press Network, Dominican President Danilo Medina said this week that he would take "drastic measures" to resolve the issue of the ban on Dominican chickens and eggs by the Haitian government. He added that there are no valid reason for the ban noting that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has supported their claim that there was no bird flu in the Dominican Republic.

Danilo Medina denounced the special interests behind the actions taken by Haiti and concluded that they need to find solutions to not depend on the Haitian market."

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In late December 2010, the Jamaica Broilers unveiled plans to open an operation in Haiti for the production of chicken and chicken by-products to meet the growing need, made more dominant by the earthquake earlier that year, in the Haitian market for protein. Haitian Broilers was born shortly after, a US$2-$3 million dollar project.

In its initial stages, the venture was a partnership with a Haitian entity which saw the country receive feed from Jamaica and chicks from the United States. Described as a mission for gathering information, the company's vice-president, Donald Patterson, has recently said that the now, positively successful venture has surpassed the beginning stages of JA broilers at a corresponding time in its infancy.

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Brazil Foods (BRF), food-industry behemoth, has seeded the start-up of a poultry-processing plant in Haiti. They have finished conducting a study to find out if it's feasible to genetically engineer poultry to produce a meatier bird.

Specialist in supply-side economics, Mohammed Yunus, told delegates at the Social Business and Corporate Investment Conference BRF and his non-profit, Grameen, have forged a partnership to produce genetically-engineered poultry.

Grameen Bank, the non-profit's financing arm, will offer micro-financing to small businesses interested in genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). In the project's first phase, BRF will build a centralized processing center for genetically-engineered poultry.

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