Poultry farmers call for urgent intervention by government to revive sector

Poultry farmers are calling for an urgent government intervention to help revamp the sector.

The importation of poultry products amounted to approximately GH¢868.8 million, about 7.7% of total imports in 2023.

According to the President of the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association, Kwame Anim Somuah, the high cost of borrowing makes it difficult for farmers to remain sustainable amidst the increasing market demand.

He emphasised the challenges faced by farmers who heavily rely on egg production to sustain their businesses

 Most poultry farmers depend solely on egg production to sustain our business. Unfortunately, along the line when you lose your birds and you are not getting any support from the government it becomes so difficult to be in business.”

“This is because most farmers have borrowed money from banks with very high-interest rates. This puts the farmers in a very desperate situation,” he added.

However, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GAPFA, Isaac Awuzah, emphasised poultry farmers commitment to boosting local production and reducing reliance on imports.

Last year with the help of IFE a German company,” he explained, “We’ve acquired a 15 metric tons per hour machine that is going to augment the existing ones that we have. It means if we were producing 3000 bags a day, it means we are going to quadruple it, and in that sense, we can go to the various regions of the country. This year, we are going to increase the production massively.”

Poultry farming has become a crucial business in the agriculture sector in Ghana, playing a significant role in the nation’s economy and ensuring food security.

Recent statistics indicate that as of 2020 the poultry industry contributed to about 16% of the total livestock production in Ghana.

The sector achieved an annual production of over 128,000 metric tons of poultry meat and nearly 2.3 billion eggs. The national demand for poultry meat alone is about 400,000 metric tons with local production of just about 57,871 metric tons.