My passion for poultry farming led me to develop my own incubator to breed fowls

With a deep passion for farming and an unwavering commitment to innovation, electrical engineer Seth Akoto Ofei has successfully manufactured incubators to hatch eggs for his poultry farm.

During a tour of his farm on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, Akoto Ofei recounted his long-standing interest in farming. "I normally have to leave Cape Coast very late, about 9pm, to get to the airport in Accra by about 1am to pick up my day-old chicks and return," he stated. This routine became a necessity whenever he needed to restock his farm with chicks.

Manufacturing an Incubator

The idea of developing an incubator came from his father’s advice. "You are an electrical engineer, so why risk going to Accra just to pick up day-old chicks? Why can't you leverage your knowledge to manufacture your own incubator?" he recounted.

Initially, the suggestion did not seem appealing enough to pursue. However, with his father’s persistent encouragement, he decided to give it a try. "In my first and second attempts, out of 30 eggs, none of them hatched. In my third attempt, out of 30 eggs, I had only three eggs hatch. That was very frustrating, but I never lost hope," he recounted.

Determined to improve the hatch rate, Akoto Ofei traveled to his village to observe how hens naturally incubate their eggs. "It was there that I realized that, at some point while incubating the eggs, they used their mouth to rotate the eggs and then sat on them again," he revealed.

With this knowledge, he modified his incubator to include a system that automatically rotates the eggs. "I placed 100 eggs in the incubator and had a 50% hatch rate. This spurred me on to achieve what I have been able to achieve today," he shared, adding, "What I've just recounted took no less than a year to achieve," he stressed.

Today, he has successfully developed two incubators capable of hatching 1,056 and 500 eggs, allowing him to hatch a total of 1,556 eggs of any bird type, including layers and broilers.

The Advantage of Locally Bred Birds

Akoto Ofei emphasized that the birds he breeds have a significantly lower mortality rate and stronger disease resistance compared to imported breeds. "If you compare their mortality rate and their resistance to the imported chicks, what I breed are far better and well acclimatized to our weather," he emphasized.

The Creation of ‘Ɔkunkɔm Nam’ Fowl

Having successfully bred and incubated both layers and broilers, Akoto Ofei set his sights on developing a unique local breed exclusive to his farm. To achieve this, he traveled across villages and towns in the Cape Coast Metropolis, gathering the best fowl breeds to create what he now calls the ‘Ɔkunkɔm nam’ fowl.

This special breed, developed since 2019, is larger, heavier, and more visually striking than ordinary fowls. Explaining the meaning behind its name, Akoto Ofei revealed, "The name ‘Ɔkunkɔm nam’ suggests a fowl that has a lot of meat, intended to extinguish hunger in our motherland. The meat of the ‘Ɔkunkɔm nam’ fowl is tender and tastes better than the normal poultry fowl meat," he averred.

The Future of Poultry Farming in Ghana

Investments in the poultry industry have the potential to create numerous employment opportunities for farmers, processors, distributors, and related industries. This vision aligns with President John Mahama’s campaign pledge to revitalize the poultry sector. Mahama has promised to provide incentives, such as day-old chicks and ovens, to support poultry and baking startups.

Additionally, he has pledged to revamp the collapsing poultry industry by incentivizing farmers, promoting local consumption under the ‘Made-in-Ghana’ agenda, and implementing the ‘Poultry Farm to Table’ project in collaboration with Poultry Farmers Associations.

Akoto Ofei sees this as an opportunity to contribute to national development. He urged President Mahama to leverage his expertise in producing day-old chicks to empower youth interested in poultry farming. "With investments, I can manufacture bigger incubators to produce larger quantities of day-old chicks to support youth empowerment. This would help the government cut down costs by not importing foreign day-old chicks with high mortality rates," he stressed.

A Call for Government Support

Encouraging the youth never to give up on their dreams despite challenges, Akoto Ofei also appealed to the government for support in scaling up his production. "With little investment, I can produce the required day-old chicks to support the NDC government agenda for the poultry industry, aiding in youth employment," he stated.

With his innovative approach to poultry farming, Akoto Ofei is proving that local ingenuity and determination can play a vital role in transforming Ghana’s agricultural sector.