Poultry business picks up again
Poultry farmers across the country recorded their highest sales during the Christmas and New Year festivities, two years after the outbreak of the Avian influenza (bird flu).
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They made more than 50 per cent sale on total poultry products, according to a nationwide survey by the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF).
“For us, the year in general has been very good in terms of sales and during this Christmas festivities because we were able to record higher sales across the country,” the Vice Chairman of the association, Mr Napoleon Agyeman Oduro, told the Graphic Business in Accra on Tuesday, January 3, 2017.
Mr Oduro attributed the development to the lifting of a ban on the sale and movement of live birds to prevent the spread of the Avian influenza popularly known as bird flu.
Figures from the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs in July 2015 indicated that the disease had then affected 11 poultry farms in the Greater Accra, Volta and Ashanti regions.
In 2015, the country lost about GH¢800,000 due to the destruction of 33,143 birds, 1,058 crates of eggs and 37 bags of feed in the three affected regions.
Mr Oduro said the poultry farmers were also forced to reduce the prices of live birds due to unfair competition posed by imported poultry products, which are 50 to 60 per cent cheaper than locally produced chicken.
It is estimated that Ghana spends about US$800 million annually to import rice, chicken and poultry product, a trend which has been attributed to the depreciation of the local currency against the major foreign currencies over the years.
Properly implement GHABROP
Congratulating the President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Mr Oduro called on the new administration to properly implement the proposed Ghana Broiler Revitalisation Project (GHABROP) programme.
According to him, the government, through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), was in the process of running the GHABROP programme without recourse to the document developed to execute the project.
Currently, Ghana’s poultry sector is facing challenges, especially after the bird flu outbreak last two years. The unbridled trade liberalisation that allows the importation of chicken products to compete with 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 the 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 Oduro 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 a healthy heart, ” he said.
Poultry farmers congratulate
Meanwhile, the GNAPF has also congratulated the President-elect and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), for the resounding victory in the December 2016 general election.
The GNAPF, which is the umbrella body of poultry farmers in the country, pledged their unflinching support, commitment and readiness to work in collaboration with the new administration.
“The GNAPF assures you and the NPP of its willingness to support and work with your government to drive the agenda for the poultry sector revolution that will provide jobs, good health and economic prosperity to the people of Ghana,” the National Chairman of the association, Mr Victor Oppong Adjei, said in a statement.