The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is set to begin the distribution of poultry to large-scale commercial farmers in June as part of efforts to revitalise Ghana’s poultry industry and reduce the country’s dependence on imports.
The initiative forms part of the broader poultry revitalisation agenda under the ‘Nkoko Nkitinkiti’ Programme, which has already been implemented at the household level across several parts of the country.
Chief Technical Advisor to the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Kwesi Etu-Bonde, said the expansion of the programme to commercial farmers had been delayed due to pending financial and procurement approvals.
“We wanted to move very fast, but there are authorization and commitment processes that must be completed,” he explained. “Once those are finalised, we expect that by June we will hit the ground running.”
Bondi said the government is working to strengthen the entire poultry value chain by encouraging both public and private investment in production and processing.
He noted that Ghana’s poultry industry faces stiff competition from imported poultry products, many of which are subsidised in their countries of origin.
“Every broiler imported into Ghana has been subsidised by the exporting country,” he said. “Meanwhile, our local processors and producers do not receive such subsidies, which makes the competition difficult.”
Bondi added that the country must significantly expand its poultry processing capacity to meet domestic demand.
“We need many more processing facilities if we want to supply the poultry demand in the country,” he stated, noting that existing processors alone cannot meet the national requirement.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of Agri-Impact Group Limited, Dr. (h.c.) Daniel Fahene Acquaye stressed the need for a comprehensive poultry master plan to address critical challenges along the value chain.
He explained that the ‘Nkoko Nkitinkiti’ Programme represents only one component of a broader poultry revitalisation strategy.
“People often think ‘Nkoko Nkitinkiti’ is the entire poultry revitalisation programme,” he said, adding “But it is only one part. The broader strategy also focuses on commercial poultry farmers and small-to-medium scale producers.”
According to the CEO of Agri-Impact Group Limited, data currently being compiled by district authorities will guide the next phase of the programme, which aims to expand production capacity and attract investment into Ghana’s poultry sector.