Ministry Of Agric Woos Investors Into Poultry Industry

The Food and Agriculture ministry is collaborating with some four private investors to establish poultry processing factories in the country to help cut down on the importation of chicken.

The move follows recent complaints by poultry farmers on the ailing sector due to the huge volumes of imported chicken.

Since the early 2000s, Ghana's poultry sector has been experiencing a steep decline. The ill fortunes of the sector have been largely attributed to the importation of frozen chicken which is affecting the competitiveness of the sector.

Currently, Ghana imports about 150,000 metric tons of poultry meat yearly, a situation the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers says could sink the local poultry industry if care is not taken.

The livestock sector, including poultry, is an important component of agriculture in Ghana and plays a key role in providing livelihood support to many Ghanaians especially the rural population.

But responding to the issue, the Deputy Agric Minister George Oduro said, his ministry is engaging four investors to set up in Ghana to allow for local processing of chicken.

“We need about 40,00 birds a week in order to process about eight tons a day, so as of now we have four business people we are in talks with. We have presented their plans to the bank and once that phase is completed, they will bring in the machines and process locally” he said.

He also disclosed that they are the Ministry is engaging a Czech company that will also be producing a million broilers a year.

Mr Oduro said that discussions are far advanced and sometime this year they will definitely start.

According to him, the country produces only 30 percent of poultry that’s consumed locally.

He also added that the Agric ministry will improve local availability of feed with proceeds from the Planting for Food and Jobs programme. This, he noted, will bring down the cost of production for poultry farmers.