Batakari Friday initiative launched, expected to boost development
The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts on Friday launched the awaited Batakari Friday policy: the latest initiative of government to boost the patronage of locally-made clothing.
Like the Friday wear initiative, Batakari Friday hopes to have Ghanaians wearing Batakari on the first Friday of every month.
The policy was launched by Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts at the opening of the Grass is Greener Exhibition: a month-long exhibition by the World Bank and the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to showcase the sights and sounds and the economic potential of Ghana’s savannah region.
The exhibition’s opening showcased still and motion photography of the savannah zone, apparel of the peoples of northern Ghana, chiefly the Batakari and accompanying headgear; beverages such as Baobab fruit drink, Tamarind, Pito and Brukutu; and the novel guinea fowl shawarma.
Mr Henry Kerali, World Bank Ghana Country Director, noted the potential for the Batakari idea to boost the cotton industry and development in the savannah zone.
He also noted that Batakari provides income and employment for thousands of people from cotton farmers, spinners and yarn weavers, down to those who clean Batakari.
He also said that in areas such as East Asia, the potential of savannah regions has been harnessed to produce a range of beneficial products, and challenged the relevant state authorities such as SADA and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, to provide “practical and pragmatic development.”
“I have seen the statistics about Ghana and particularly about Ghana. There is no reason why northern Ghana and for that matter, Ghana as a whole should be poor. Many countries do not have even a fraction of the resources that Ghana and the savannah area of Ghana in particular, has,” Mr Kerali said.
Mr Charles Abugre, the Chief Executive Officer of SADA reiterated the untapped potential of the savannah region and called for a scale up in the production, consumption and export of the region’s crops such as Baobab, which lessens desertification, to provide food, earn foreign exchange and alleviate the cedi’s depreciation.
The Director of Manufacturing at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr Kofi Nuhu expressed the hope and expectation that this follow up to the Friday wear initiative, would be embraced by Ghanaians to open the Batakari up to large scale production.
Alhaji Osman, a Batakari expert, explained and demonstrated the various types of Batakari and the meanings associated with the way they are worn, adding that people in the south will be left off the hook for any traditional and customary violations that may accompany the Batakari Friday initiative.
By Emmanuel Odonkor