Poultry farmers decry high interest rates

The Ghana National Association of Poultry farmers is calling on banks to reduce the cost of credit.

The farmers say they pay on average between 35% to 40% interest for every loan taken to boost their businesses.

According to them, the high interest on loans taken from the banks in Ghana makes it difficult to enhance production in the poultry industry as all profit made are used to pay back the loans.

Speaking to Citi Business News, President for the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers Victor Oppong Adjei said banks can help avert the situation by reducing the high rates.

“Interest rate is very high. Because if you are paying an interest rate of between 35% and 40%, you could see that it is very huge and it is not helping us. So we are praying that the interest rate will come down so that farmers can access and use it to produce more chicken and more eggs,” he stated.

The high cost of credit comes to add unto the numerous challenges facing the poultry industry.

Recently, the farmers complained largely over competition from imported frozen chicken.

The association contended that about 95% of their market has been taken over by the imported chicken products.

It would be recalled that local poultry farmers earlier appealed to government to ban the imports of frozen chicken.

Meanwhile, the importers argue that the local poultry industry is not able to meet the demand.

Chairman of the Poultry Farmers Association of Ghana Victor Oppong Adjei, told Citi Business News the situation still remains the same.

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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana