Over the years, a considerable number of poultry farmers have either veered away completely from producing broilers (chicken reared for their meat) and moved towards layer production (chicken grown for their eggs) or relegated broiler production to the religious holidays in Ghana where demand is significantly higher. This is primarily caused by the low prices of imported frozen chicken into the country serving as competition for the locally produced broilers.
The Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers has estimated that over 135,000 metric tonnes of frozen chicken were imported from the European Zone to Ghana in 2017, a figure that represented 76% increase over 2016 imports.
There’s a need to tap into the potential in the poultry sector of Ghana and diffuse the concentration of imported chicken in the country. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has been reported to publish a policy for the reduction of imports to support poultry production in the country.
On the other hand, layer production is comfortably a relatively secure source of income for farmers in Ghana considering the demand for eggs in the country, making it the main focus of a large percentage of farmers in poultry production.
The potential in the poultry sector of Ghana has been reiterated by recent news of Morocco exploring the possibility of investing in the country’s poultry sector. Morocco is considering pumping capital and expertise into the sector in an attempt to help drastically reduce the amount of chicken imported into Ghana.
The story of Ms. Edith Wheatland who scaled her poultry farm, Rockland Farms, from 8000 birds in 2013 to 60,000 birds now and emerging the winner of the Accelerated Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) prize for Sub-Saharan Africa, earning further technical assistance and grant opportunities on the international market attests to the fact that there is a huge market that has to be tapped into.
This must be the best time to venture into the poultry sector; but it will be unwise to venture in without adequate knowledge on the subject.
Agripro and BK Farms have put together a poultry workshop to give practical knowledge on the subject of poultry production to anyone starting or scaling a poultry farm. Some mistakes can be avoided when you get others to share their expertise with you, validate your research and demystify the myths.
This workshop covers:
Funding and financing options/ opportunities
Farm management: breeding, ration & feeding, managing pests and diseases, vaccination, housing, farm layouts and labour requirements
Bookkeeping and income projections
Marketing
Value addition
Investing in poultry production
For more information on the workshop, visit https://www.agriprohub.com/poultry or call 0263118965/ 0202729121
