February 11, 2019

De Heus subsidiary to build compound animal feed factory in Ghana

On February 6, Koudijs Ghana, a subsidiary of Royal De Heus, celebrated the start of the development of its first compound animal feed factory in Ghana and in West Africa.

Koudijs further enhanced its ambitions to strengthen its position in the country with the ultra-modern new production facility, De Heus said. Located on a 500 acre-site in Tema, near Accra, the new factory will be one of the largest compound feed production plants in Ghana, with a production capacity reaching 90,000 tonnes a year.
 

The inauguration was attended by the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature & Food Carola Schouten, Ghanaian Minister of State in charge of Poultry Dr. Nurah Gyiele and Dutch Ambassador in Ghana Ron Strikker.

Hugo Visscher, the general manager of Koudijs Ghana, said the construction of the plant underlines the strategy of De Heus to bring its local animal feed and husbandry knowledge to fast-growing, developing countries.

"The combination of global knowledge and local presence is one we strongly believe in. Sharing this knowledge locally feeds the performance of our customers business but also that of the local and regional economy," Visscher added.

Koen de Heus, CEO of Royal De Heus, expressed his pleasure at the new factory's ground breaking ceremony, describing it as a major addition to Koudijs.

He stated: "Through our export division, Koudijs Animal Nutrition, De Heus has been an active contributor towards the development of a more robust agricultural sector in Ghana for the past decade. Today, we bolster this relationship and commit ourselves to feeding the performance of the Ghanaian agricultural sector. De Heus invests in the construction of this advanced multipurpose animal feed production plant for Koudijs Ghana Limited to demonstrate our confidence in the Ghanaian economy in general and in aqua and livestock farmers specifically."

Schouten launched the ground breaking ceremony by initiating construction of the factory's foundations.

In her speech, she pointed out the tremendous challenge in building a sustainable agricultural system. As she explained: "We must find multiple ways to be sustainable. Sourcing locally, minimising food loss and reusing waste. At national and international level. Koudijs Ghana supports these philosophies."

"We hope this project would rekindle our resolve to achieve greater heights in the agro-industrial development. Let us embrace the project and ensure that maximum benefits are derived when the project starts to turn out output and services," Dr. Gyiele said.

"I thank Koudijs Ghana Ltd and of course... De Heus on behalf of the Government of Ghana for taking this business opportunity to help provide part of the needed support for the fish and livestock sectors in Ghana."

- De Heus