The Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers have re-echoed the need for the government to hasten activities geared towards revitalizing the poultry sector. The Association believes that revamping the sector by addressing issues on high cost of feed and other issues, could motivate more farmers to bounce back to poultry business. Mr Victor Oppong Adjei, National Chairman of the Association who made call said 'it is going to benefit the whole economy, not the poultry farmers alone. This is because for almost four years now, about 85 percent of the farms have collapsed due to challenges such as the high cost of feed, and workers had to go home, which had rippling effects on families and homes' he explained. Mr Adjei was speaking at the opening of a four-day training in Poultry Management for members of the Apex body of Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC-Apex Ghana) at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region. He said if given the needed attention, the poultry sector could create over a million jobs in the country, adding that, the venture had more economic gains and would in a way reduce rural-urban migration since poultry farms were always located in the rural areas. He noted that although the Association had met with the government and other implementing agencies, workable solutions for production and marketing should be deepened. Broiler production, according to him, was lucrative and explained that 'but here is the case that when one produces broiler in Ghana, you find it very difficult to sell because of the imported frozen chicken that has been dumped in the country.' Mr Adjei said per the recent projections by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), it would be encouraging for the production of broilers and called for the regulation of imported frozen chicken for local broiler production to thrive. Mr Ricky Aboagye Poku, Head of Poultry Production Unit, MoFA, indicated that the government was not relenting in efforts to address challenges in the poultry sector. He said the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) had specific attention to poultry, soybean, maize, and rice as key commodities. Mr Aboagye Poku said the government intended to not only revamp the industry, but also cut down import bills, adding that, Ghana spent a lot of money importing frozen chicken into the country and that there was the need to upscale local poultry production. He said the country could not just ban importation of frozen chicken when it was not sufficient in local supply.

Source: Ghana News Agency