Palm wine dying a painful death!

The existence of Palm wine, a popular Ghanaian traditional drink is endangered due to the shortage of its raw materials, adulteration, low patronage, and lack of professional tapers compared to the previous times.

Spacefm decided to find out the cause by contacting tapers, sellers, drinkers and the general public.

The tapers complained that the palm trees which serve as the raw material for the drink are scarce and that has affected the profession.

The sellers say the tapers have shot-up the prices of the drink which makes affordability difficult, whiles others complained that the few tapers in the system give the stuff to their wives to sell and it is hard to get the needed quantity for public consumption.

They added that the on- and -off trend of the product makes the business unattractive and have therefore decided to switch to other petty trading that will be sustainable.

Some of the consumers disclosed that they are not getting the quality stuff any more because sellers practice adulteration by putting water and sugar to increase the quantity for high profit.

Others shared with us problems they encountered after taking the adulterated stuff, saying they get diarrhoea, abdominal pains and all sorts of stomach problems.

When asked for the traditional importance of the drink, a 62 year old man noted that the drink was served at marriage ceremonies and other important gatherings.

An appeal has been made by a section of the public to the tourist board to upgrade the drink and recommend it in our restaurants and hotels since it is part of the Ghanaian tradition.