Ghana moves to
revamp poultry sector with investment-driven master plan
Stakeholders
in Ghana’s agriculture sector have called for a bold, practical, and
investment-driven National Poultry Master Plan to transform the industry and
reduce the country’s heavy reliance on imports.
Speaking at the Ghana Poultry Master Plan
Stakeholders’ Dialogue (Southern Zone) in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer of
Agri-Impact Limited, Dr Daniel Fahene Acquaye, stressed the need to move beyond
repetitive policy frameworks that often fail to deliver meaningful results.
The dialogue forms part of a nationwide
process to develop a data-driven Poultry Sector Master Plan aimed at boosting
local production, enhancing competitiveness, and creating jobs.
Initiative
The initiative is being led by the Animal
Production Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in collaboration
with Agri-Impact Limited and the Mastercard Foundation under the Harnessing
Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Programme.
Dr Acquaye expressed concern over Ghana’s
declining poultry self-sufficiency, noting that the country, which once produced
about 80 per cent of its poultry needs, now produces barely 10 per cent, with
imports accounting for nearly 90 per cent of consumption.
“How can we continue to import a product
that takes less than two months to produce?” he questioned, pointing to the
untapped potential within the local poultry industry.
He attributed the decline to trade
liberalisation and structural challenges, including high feed costs, limited
processing capacity, weak financing systems, and fragmentation across the value
chain.
He explained that the proposed Poultry
Master Plan was being designed to address these bottlenecks holistically.
The plan, he said, goes beyond production to target key investment areas such
as feed mills, hatcheries, breeder farms, veterinary services, processing, and
distribution.
He also highlighted the importance of
integrated financing, noting that current systems often supported only segments
of the value chain, limiting efficiency and growth.
Dr Acquaye cautioned that although several
policies have been developed over the years, many have not translated into real
sector transformation.
He expressed optimism that the
new plan would deliberately address entrenched structural challenges.
He outlined four priorities, which were
tackling systemic constraints, promoting practical and innovative solutions,
attracting public and private investment, and ensuring inclusivity,
particularly for women and vulnerable groups.
Challenges
Delivering a keynote address on behalf of
the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Chief Technical Advisor to the Minister,
Kwasi Etu-Bonde, acknowledged persistent challenges such as high feed costs,
limited access to quality day-old chicks, inadequate cold-chain infrastructure,
and fragmented markets.
He noted that despite government interventions, Ghana continued to experience a
mismatch between domestic supply and demand, leading to heavy poultry imports
that strained the economy and limited job creation.
Ghana
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Mr Etu-Bonde said the National Poultry
Master Plan would provide a coordinated framework aligning policy, investment,
and implementation across the value chain.
He highlighted interventions under the
poultry revitalisation agenda, including the “Poultry Farm-to-Table” initiative,
support for small and medium-scale farmers, and the programme for households.
He revealed that the government aimed to produce about 12 million birds
annually through these initiatives.
“Our goal is to move to a well-linked
value chain that can meet at least 50 per cent of national poultry demand
within the next three years,” he said.
The Deputy Director of the Animal
Production Directorate, Dr Abdul Razak Okine, emphasised that stakeholder
consultations were critical in shaping a practical roadmap, adding that inputs
from across the country would be consolidated into a final master plan
reflecting industry realities.
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