By: Francis Abedi
The collapse of several poultry farms is frustrating plans to be self-sufficient in chicken production. Shortage of feed ingredients remain a threat to the nation’s poultry industry.
Vice President of the Confederation for the Development of Poultry in Africa, John Bewuah Edusei, is therefore calling on Government to begin producing more maize and soya to alleviate the challenges of poultry farmers.
Ghana’s Poultry Sector has for sometime now experienced a steep decline with many commercial poultry farms that were established in the late 1960s and early 1970s, having collapsed or are on the verge of collapsing. The reason for this is the high cost or unavailability of maize.
The Ghana Poultry Farmers Association has held discussions with Government and other stakeholders to explore ways of dealing with the challenges.
Meanwhile, the Association cautions that a collapse of the poultry industry would exacerbate unemployment, negatively impacting the economy.
The Association has previously called for interventions amid fears that imported frozen poultry may take over their business.
The United States Department of Agriculture has reported that Ghana’s poultry imports reached 360,000 metric tonnes in 2021 from 295,165 metric tonnes in 2020.
The National demand for poultry meat alone is about 400,000 Metric Tons with local production of just about 57,000 Metric Tons, an indication that imports of poultry meat is about 180,000 Metric Tons with a shortfall of 162,000 Metric Tons.
Vice President of the Confederation for the Development of Poultry in Africa, John Bewuah Edusei at a news conference in Kumasi, laid the blame for low poultry production in the country on the Government’s inability to protect local production, adding that shortages of feed ingredients remain a threat to the nation’s poultry industry.
He however suggested ways which the country’s poultry industry could be revived.
