September 25, 2013

Ghana's poultry farmers association inaugurates feed mill

Ghana's Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association has opened a five-tonne integrated poultry feed mill worth GHS452,183 (US$209,000) which is capable of producing 120 bags of poultry feed daily.

Currently, there are less than eight commercial feed mills in the country due to the fact that most of them have folded up.

Over the years, the poultry industry in Ghana has dwindled because of challenges, including competition from imported frozen chicken and the high cost of production.

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Clement Humado, said inadequate capacity for feed production in the country contributed to the slowdown in poultry production. He announced that the government was currently studying a proposal for funding support submitted by the Ghana National Association of Farmers to revitalise the industry.

Under the proposal, about 475,000 broilers would be produced locally during the first year, and expected to reach about 70 million broilers in the fifth year, he said.

That, he said, would require about 250,000 to 350,000 tonnes of feed for the industry. Humado added that last year meat available for consumption from both local and imported sources stood about 225,000 tonnes.

The figure was not sufficient to satisfy the yearly national meat requirement of about 300,000 tonnes, according to the minister. He said that over the last five years, chicken imports alone cumulatively accounted for 74.2% of Ghana's total meat import of 521,291 tonnes.

The President of the association, Abu Yaw Baidoo, said the equipment would make production faster, easier and more efficient. He added that the association was putting up a warehouse at Gomoa Akotsi in the Central Region for the storage of its materials.