Assessing protectionism and its impact from consumers' perspective: The case of Senegal's poultry import ban

Import ban, an extreme form of restriction prohibiting the trade of a good is implemented under different scenarios including an outbreak of a disease to prevent the spread of infection. While such a policy may have varying degrees of impact on different sectors of the domestic economy, end-users of the good in question are key to providing useful information on its success or failure. In this regard, this study was conducted to assess the impact of Senegal's poultry import ban from consumers' perspective using focus group discussions. Themes arising from the analysis of the data show that the import ban has contributed to the development of the domestic poultry sector, providing jobs for many along the poultry value chain. Furthermore, the supply of domestic chicken has witnessed a surge contributing to an overall fall in prices. Notwithstanding, the ban is neglecting the group of consumers who are driven by convenience, product diversity, and safety when purchasing chicken meat. Modernization of the sector in relation to infrastructure for processing, storage, in addition to the education and training of actors on hygiene in the meat distribution chain are crucial if the gains made by the domestic poultry industry are to be sustained.