REDUCING POVERTY IN THE UPPER EAST REGION...Guinea fowl farmers have role to play (D/G, Wednesday, April 15, 2009.PAGE 20)

GUINEA fowls were among the last birds to be domesticated by man. The origin of guinea fowls is West Africa; the Gulf of Guinea to be specific.
In northern Ghana, about 10 million guinea fowls are produced annually.
According to an animal scientist with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Mr S.Y. Apiiga, the Upper East Region produces about five million guinea fowls, the single largest producer in the country. It is followed by the Upper West Region, which produces four million of the birds while the Northern Region places third, producing three million of the birds.
Research conducted by the University for Development Studies (UDS) suggests that the Upper East Region breeds contain a lot of meat types, the Upper West products are known for their eggs while the Northern Region is noted for the dual purpose breeds it produces.
In the Upper East Region, the bird is reared mostly under the extensive or free range system where the bird scavenges for feed, insects, worms and water.
A bird produces between 90 and 150 eggs per year under this system. The eggs take 28 days to hatch and mature between five and six months, weighing between 800 grammes and 1.5 kilogrammes.
According to Mr Apiiga, the guinea fowl is not only an economic bird which could reduce poverty and increase rural income, but also a socio-cultural bird.
The meat and eggs are a delicacy and there is high demand for the meat and eggs in Ghana and outside the country.
“It is a common fact that a family of five or less people can depend on 20 birds for their food and cash needs through the sale of the birds and eggs,” Mr Apiiga said.
He stated that in the Upper East Region, guinea fowl is used for sacrifices, dowries, festivals, festivities and as gifts to friends and relatives, adding that it is also the preferred meat for women.
Furthermore, the meat and eggs have medicinal properties because they contain less cholesterol and fats since they are reared organically.
The manure is rich in nitrogen and good for vegetable crop production.The feathers are now used for interior decorations and in the fashion industry.
Guinea fowl has the potential of reducing rural poverty, promoting food security and reducing malnutrition in children, women and increase standard of living in northern Ghana, which incidentally ranks high on the poverty ladder of the country.
It is to erase this social canker of poverty that a number of farmers in the Upper East Region have come together to form an association of Guinea Fowl Farmers Association to harness the enormous prospects.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the association at Bolgatanga, the chairman, Mr Thomas Asomburah stated that the members, having observed with grave concern, the negative perception that the region was hit by abject poverty and recognising the fact that the region abounds with a lot of natural resources of which the guinea fowls are a segment and realising that they could exploit this noble industry, found it prudent to form the association towards fostering a pragmatic agenda to achieve the ultimate goal of eradicating poverty staring at them in the face.
“In fact, posterity would not forgive us if we sit under the umbrella of poverty with the stereotype mind that the region is hit with abject poverty and leave these natural resources untapped for the betterment of our lives,” Mr Asomburah stated.
The chairman stated that the enterprise was rather a challenging one and was therefore soliciting the assistance of all stakeholders, including the government to boost the production of guinea fowls.
“We are certain that if there is a good development and assistance, the youth who shy away from farming, would be involved to reduce the unemployment situation in the region and thereby prevent many of them from migrating down south for non-existent jobs. This is a viable venture, marketing is no problem and the industry has no room for rot or glut”, he stressed.
Mr Apiiga shares the same views, emphasising that even though the guinea fowls have a lot of prospects, the industry is hampered by a myriad of constraints including availability of fertile eggs for hatching throughout the year, high mortality and morbidity of keets (1-10 weeks) due to diseases, parasites and pests, poor management, such as housing, feeding, medication and watering.
The rest are high cost of feed, drugs and vaccines, availability and affordability of small scale incubators, lack of credit and funding by banks and financial institutions, poor processing and packaging of guinea fowls for home consumption and for export market and competition from imported chicken.
On the way forward, Mr Apiiga said despite the numerous constraints facing the guinea fowl industry, the following steps, initiatives and activities could help boost the production of guinea fowls. They include continuous technical information on management, feeding, housing, disease prevention and control, provision on micro credit and logistics by banks non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Municipal and District Assemblies as well as development partners.
Others are provision of small scale incubators to farmers by the government at subsidised prices, subsidising drugs and vaccines for guinea fowl farmers, promoting the cultivation of maize, sorghum, soya beans and groundnuts as feed for the birds, instituting a Presidential Special Initiative on guinea fowl production to provide funding and focus on its production, processing and marketing.
The rest are establishment of processing plants, at least one in each region, for the processing of birds to add value for export, ban or limit the importation of foreign chicken from Europe, America and Asia, upscaling the production and marketing of herbal preparation for farmers.
By so doing, the farmers can help bring the dream of improvement, production and marketing of the birds to fruition.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Owen Woyongo, who inaugurated the association commended the leaders.He said his administration would do all in its power to ensure that his three prong vision of unity, peace and development was achieved.
He gave the assurance that the government, which had agricultural development as one of its keys to development, would through the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority strengthen the partnership among all stakeholders, including the Guinea Fowl Farmers Association, in eradicating poverty from the region.