As part of measures to boost the poultry industry, government has began the process of drastically reducing the importation of poultry products into the country with the view to eventually bringing the volume down to zero per cent within the shortest possible time.
“It is our desire as a government to drive down poultry imports to zero and that as at now we have drastically reduced the importation of poultry if you compare it to other years, you can say apparently we’re not importing again”, Dr. Nurah Gyiele, Minister of State at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has said.
He said government was closely monitoring how the market would “react” to this measure to inform any subsequent decision as to whether to continue or revert to the importation of poultry products.
“We now want to see how the market will react. If the market begins to complain and everybody is saying we don’t have chicken then we’ll go to the poultry farmers and tell them what people are saying”
Dr. Gyiele believes much would depend on the farmers and all players in the poultry value chain to meet the market demands, saying government would offer all the needed support to ensure that the nation reaps maximum benefits from the sector.
The Minister was speaking at the 2nd Poultry Value Chain Fair held in Sunyani under the theme “Employment creation along the poultry value chain: public private partnership approach.”
He was of the view that in spite of its complexities, the poultry industry can significantly impact the local economy when properly harnessed, adding that “it will take the collective commitment of all actors to strengthen our own capacity to lead productivity, promote profitability and drastically cut or eliminate the import of poultry and poultry products.”
“The local poultry sector continues to grow but with minimal participation of local actors, especially in production.”
Dr. Gyiele noted with concern that the total domestic supply of broiler meat was less than 25% at 35,000 tons while imports increased by 14,000 tons to reach 158,000 tons in 2017.”
“Demand for broiler meat is ever increasing, meanwhile domestic supply remains mostly stagnant allowing imports to fill the gap. Reversing this worrying trend does not depend on the poultry associations or the poultry farmer alone, neither can government single handedly drive the change”, he added.
The President of the Ghana Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF), Victor Oppong Adjei announced that the association in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) would soon undertake a biometric registration of all poultry farmers in the country.
“This is to help us to plan very well for the industry and also know the quality of inputs that is maize or soya that you’ll need annually. So I will urge every poultry farmer here to be part of the process”, he stressed.
The Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Ron Strikker, for his part was happy about the five-year Ghana Poultry Programme (GPP) and AMPLIFIES funded by USDA as part of its Food and Progress Programme (FFP).
He reiterated his commitment to helping Ghana to revamp her poultry sector through collaborations and knowledge transfer among others.
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