The Chief Executive Officer of Coconut Grove Hotels, Ralph Ayitey, has called for strategic interventions to strengthen Ghana’s poultry value chain, warning that the sector is struggling under the pressure of cheap imports and a fragile supply system.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, April 17, 2025, Mr. Ayitey noted that while imported frozen poultry products have become more affordable for consumers, they are seriously undermining local production and threatening jobs within Ghana’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
As a person who has been advocating for the consumption of local poultry, he explained that the value chain requires a significant investment in large-scale production facilities to support the industry sustainably.
Mr. Ayitey stressed that Ghana’s over-reliance on imported maize poses a threat not only to poultry but to national food security more broadly.
“Without foreign intervention by way of maize, nobody, right from human beings to animals, can survive without maize being imported in a very very large volume into the country.
“The emphasis here is on the supply chain. If we can take very good care of it, it will create employment for a lot of people. We have the veterinary, processors of the maize, and all others.
“Why will a farmer be going about looking for a market for his or her business, which is not their business? The business of poultry is a very delicate one, the farmer must spend time, paying attention to the birds and making sure that what is coming out is good and healthy. So, somebody needs to help and take off that burden, who will process it and then pass it on to the consumer.
