Government pledges to boost poultry industry
The initiative by the government to boost the poultry industry with day-old chicks and other supplies has been welcomed by a section of poultry farmers within the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan area.
The farmers in an interview with the Ghana News Agency noted how critical the poultry industry could halt the spate of unemployment among the youth should proper investment and attention by policymakers was given to the sector.
Ghana spends millions of dollars annually to import frozen chicken into the country, an occurrence that could be avoided and investment retained in-country for growth, Madam Julia Arthur of Premier Poultry Limited lamented.
She said, “I will say that the government project or programme for poultry is a laudable idea, research suggests that the country spends millions of dollars on imports of frozen chicken. This is because frozen chicken is cheaper and so there is high demand.”
Madam Arthur noted that the government must not just supply the chicks but also put in place mechanism and a policy to ensure that local feeds were available all year round.
She said: “the success of this programme on poultry basically would thrive on two indicators which are, feed industry programme and consumption of Ghana grown poultry meat.
“Should they have it right on the feed industry programme with good policy, it will help cut down the cost of production of poultry farming, since per research and field experience high cost of feed is a challenge to a lot of poultry farmers.”
Also, the high cost of production has negatively affected the sector and the end product on the market.
She said she believed that when the feed cost was moderate, there would be demand and also a rippling effect on the made-in-Ghana poultry project while making poultry farming a lucrative venture.
Madam Comfort Akyin, a trader of local poultry products, on her part, said she was looking forward to a real change in the poultry sector.
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