Poultry farmers cry for speedy help
Poultry farmers across the country recorded their worst sales ever in the industry during the Christmas and New Year festivities.
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They made less than 35 per cent sale of poultry products, according to a nationwide survey by the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF).
“Could you believe we were unable to make 35 per cent sale of poultry products during this Christmas festivity, a trend that has never occurred in the history of the industry,” the National Chairman of the association, Mr Victor Oppong Adjei, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS.
Speaking to the paper on New Year ’s Eve, Mr Adjei attributed the situation to imported poultry products, which is 50 per cent to 60 per cent cheaper than locally produced chicken.
It is estimated that Ghana spends about US$800 million annually on rice, chicken and poultry products imports, a trend which has been attributed to the depreciation of the local currency against the major foreign currencies over the years.
Mr Adjei called on the government to implement a proposed poultry and livestock import policy to boost local production of birds, saying the policy will also increase sales of local birds and reduce the high importation of chicken and other poultry products.
The policy proposal was initiated by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in the first quarter of 2014 to allow importers to bring into the country only 100 tonnes each of poultry and livestock products every three months.
When the paper visited some markets in Accra, local live birds were being sold between GH¢35 and GH¢45 for layers and boilers, respectively, as against GH¢10 to GH¢12 for imported frozen full chicken at the cold stores.
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Breakdown of sales
Giving the breakdown of sales, Mr Adjei said consumers were presently purchasing the local layers more than they did the broilers.
He added that thousands of broilers were currently on the poultry farms across the country but there was no market.
Explaining further, he said broilers were domesticated fowls, bred and raised specifically for meat production. They mostly reach slaughter-weight at between five to seven weeks.
“Therefore, the situation becomes unbearable for the farmer when the birds are not sold after the seventh week because the rate of feeding the birds increases by about 100 per cent and this increases the production cost of the farmer,” he said.
According to Mr Adjei, in developed countries where governments takes manufacturing and production seriously, the poultry sector is supported with processing plants to help slaughter and dress the unsold birds for storage after Christmas.
Industry trend
Currently, Ghana’s poultry sector is facing challenges, especially after the bird flu outbreak last year. The unbridled trade liberalisation that allows the importation of chicken products to compete with those the local ones is also affecting the ailing industry.
Apart from Nigeria that has placed a ban on the importation of poultry products, restriction on chicken products across the continent is mainly to curtail the spread of disease instead of protecting local industries.
It is quite obvious the challenges will not be addressed if market forces continue to dictate the direction of the poultry industry in Ghana. The government, therefore, must intervene to regulate the activities to boost local production and consumption.
Future perspective
Going forward, Mr Adjei said the association would outline a number of strategic marketing approach such as educating the public on the nutritional benefit of poultry products, especially eggs, in an effort to address the reduction in sales of local birds.
“Eggs are rich in several nutrients such as betaine and choline that promote heart health,” he said.
He also said the association was still holding discussions with the government to implement the GH¢3.9 million broiler revitalisation promise announced in the 2014 as well as the 2015 Budget and Economic Policy with the aim of producing 20 million broilers equivalent to about 60,000 tonnes of chicken meat. — GB