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At the 6th Ghana Poultry Day earlier this month, participants explored potential options to strengthen the country’s poultry value chain, and increase its contribution to the nation’s economy.
Many of the issues were attributed to substantial imports of relatively inexpensive products, reported Ghana Web.
Among those calling for changes in government policy to address market imbalances was the executive director of the Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa.
While demand for chicken in Ghana remains strong, and consumers want to support local production, their purchasing choices are often led by price and availability, she said. Prices of imported chicken are often relatively low — a result of large-scale production and subsidies for the industry in other countries, according to Akosa, and also established market chains.
She called for stronger support for local farmers, including improvements to product standards and market regulation, targeted subsidies for local producers, and campaigns to raise public awareness of the benefits of domestic chickens.
Among the outcomes of these measures, Akosa said, would be higher incomes for farmers, more employment opportunities, a boost to national food security, and an improved balance for Ghana’s foreign exchange balance.
Initiative to Revitalize Poultry Value Chain
Ghana’s administration appears to be well aware of the importance of the poultry sector to the national economy and feeding its citizens.
Last month, Modern Ghana reported the launch of a new initiative to boost production in the southeastern region of Volta.
The NkokoNkitinkiti initiative is one element of the government’s Feed Ghana Programme. Among its aims are to revitalize domestic production, to empower both small-scale and commercial farmers, and reduce the nation’s dependence on imports.
Addressing the launch meeting, the municipality’s chief executive Stephen Adom said that the event had been timed to restore confidence in local chicken production, and stimulate sustainable growth in the farming sector. For poultry, the initiative involves the provision of chickens, subsidized feed, technical and veterinary support, and training for its beneficiaries.
To support the Feed Ghana Programme, the European Union donated 150,000 poultry to 3,000 farmers in six northern districts, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization [https://www.fao.org/] (FAO) in April of this year. The birds were fully vaccinated, and provided along with feed and medications.
The EU Food Security Response Northern Ghana project was launched in September of 2023. With funding of EUR10 million (US$11 million), the project’s objective is to support around 50,000 smallholder farmers and improve climate resilience in the region.
Four key issues were identified as constraining the Ghanaian poultry industry in an academic paper published last year.
These were inadequate research funding, poor farm biosecurity, limited access to credit, and competition from imports, according to lead author Joshua Aboah.
According to their findings published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, these issues need to be addressed holistically to prevent the emergence of unintended consequences.
More on Ghana’s Poultry Sector
Annual domestic chicken production (fresh and chilled meat) amounts to more than 74,500 metric tons (mt). This is according to the statistics arm of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, FAOstat for 2024, which is the most recent year for which data have been published. Five years previously in 2019, output was around 69,000mt.
In the same year, Ghana’s human population was 34.4 million, according to the World Bank data.
The country’s new government pledged support for Ghanaian poultry producers in January of last year.