The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has expressed readiness to partner with investors from Nebraska in the United States to establish a `$2 million poultry processing plant in Ghana.
It explained that its members who own many of the local industries were involved in various stages of the poultry value chain, including raising chickens, producing feed and processing poultry products.
The proposed processing plant to be sited on a two-acre plot is expected to process between 1,200 and 2,000 birds per day for the local and export markets.
When completed, the facility will be equipped with the capacity to operate independently of the national grid through solar power and biogas generated from poultry waste, while providing cold storage and processing facilities to support the local poultry value chain.
The plant is being championed by EcoSyntra LLC with support from the Ghana-Nebraska Agribusiness Growth and Trade Relations Chamber (GNEBCham) and the Agrihouse Foundation.
Engagement
This came to light when a delegation from Nebraska in the United States, led by a former member of the Nebraska State Senate and Chief Executive Officer of EcoSyntra LLC, Ken Schilz, paid a visit to the AGI office in Accra on August 11.
The engagement also focused on identifying areas of mutual interest and opportunities for collaboration between Ghanaian and Nebraskan businesses, particularly in agribusiness, trade, investment and industrial development.
The President of the AGI, Kofi Nsiah-Poku, said the association was ready to partner with the Nebraska investors to develop the proposed facility and strengthen Ghana’s poultry value chain.
He said AGI’s membership covered key areas of the industry, including poultry farming, feed production and poultry processing, creating a platform for collaboration to address bottlenecks across the value chain.
Mr Nsiah-Poku said the proposed model could be started on a manageable scale and expanded as its operations and economic viability improved.
“We have farmers, and we have others in the poultry industry raising the birds, and we have industries processing the feed and others processing the birds,” he said.
He added that the partnership would help identify the problems affecting each segment and develop solutions to ensure that all parts of the value chain worked together effectively.
Feed costs
Mr Nsiah-Poku said Ghana needed to draw on Nebraska’s expertise to develop more efficient ways of feeding birds so that local producers could offer poultry products at competitive prices.
He said the strong demand for chicken in Ghana, including from major food businesses, presented a significant market opportunity if the industry could overcome its production-cost challenges.
He called for government’s support under the 24-hour economy to be extended to poultry farmers and processors, while urging authorities to strengthen measures against under-invoicing and other practices that gave imported poultry an unfair price advantage.
“If we can get a strategy as to how to feed the birds at a price that, when they are ready, we can compete with the international world, then a lot of people struggling in the industry can grow the market,” he added.
Support local poultry
Mr Schilz stated that the proposed plant would be designed to support Ghanaian farmers and processors rather than displace them.
He said the plan was to start on a smaller scale to test the model and gradually expand it based on its performance and profitability.
He explained that the facility would form part of an integrated supply chain linking poultry farmers, feed producers, processors and off-takers such as restaurants and retailers.
“What we believe in is capacity building for the Ghanaian farmer and Ghanaian processors, so we want to make sure that those folks are given the opportunity,” he said.
