Gov't initiates project to save poultry industry

The government is to roll out a project for the production of 20 million day old chicks annually to save the local poultry industry.

Known as the peri urban broiler project, the initiative is to help curb the importation of day old chicks into the country.

This was made known by the Director of Veterinary Services at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr Hayford Asiedu-Baah, at an end of year dinner for the members of the Greater Accra Regional Poultry Farmers Association in Accra.

He said the project would be piloted this year with the production of four million day old chicks in five cycles, which at the end of the year would result in the production of 20 million day old chicks.

Dr Asiedu-Baah said 75 poultry farmers from six districts in the Greater Accra Region had been selected to benefit from the plans to bring on board more farmers.

The government will, for the first two weeks of the early critical period of five weeks of the chicks, take care of all cost by supplying the feed and other items needed at that initial stage after which the beneficiary farmers will take over.

Dr Hayford Asiedu-Baah presenting a television set to Mrs Magdalene Khoury for her contribution towards the Association

Good project

The President of the Greater Accra Regional Poultry Farmers Association, Mr Michael Nyarko Ampem, welcomed the government's intervention, saying "we believe this is a good project that will help the local poultry industry."

He explained that apart from saving the nation foreign exchange, it would also reduce the cost of production of the local poultry farmers.

He encouraged Ghanaians to continue patronising local poultry products as their contribution to support the local industry.

Good year

Mr Nyarko explained that the end of year dinner was to celebrate members of the association for their invaluable contribution to the poultry industry and the Ghanaian economy in general.

He commended the government for coming up with the Planting for Food and Jobs programme which benefited poultry farmers as it led to a significant fall in the price of maize, during the second half of 2019.

Though the shortages of some critical raw materials compelled the association to sell its feed at a reduced cost on some occasions in order to cushion its members, it closed the year with the monumental production of almost 600,000 bags of feed.

That, Mr Nyarko said, translated to up to 27,000 tonnes which he described as a "remarkable achievement."

“The year 2019 was a good one for the poultry industry because during the Christmas, the sale of eggs and other local poultry products was good. It made us smile. We hope 2020 will also be an outstanding year."

Some members and former executives of the association were recognised for their contributions to the growth of the local poultry industry. They received citations, television sets, among other items, as their reward.