The Ministry of Agriculture (MoFA) has launched an initiative to support local poultry farmers and reduce the country’s dependence on imported frozen chicken, which costs Ghana over $400 million annually.
The initiative comes following concerns about the country’s overreliance on food importation causing instability of the Ghana cedi, according to MoFA.
The Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP), funded by the World Bank, aims to improve food security and reduce the impact of climate change on the food system.
Twenty-two commercial anchor farmers, including six in the Ashanti Region, have been selected to receive interest-free inputs, such as day-old chicks, feed, and vaccines, to increase broiler production.
Three farms, thus, Rockland, Darko Farms and Boris B Chicken in the Ashanti Region have already received their first consignment of day-old chicks.
The programme aims to produce approximately 2 million broiler birds annually for five years, meeting the growing demand for chicken and other poultry products.
Operations Manager of FSRP, Philip Daniel Laryea, speaking to Citi News expressed concern over food insecurity and the impact of climate change on the food system, emphasising the program’s goal to address these issues.
“If you look at the import levels that we bring into the country, the country spent over four hundred million dollars importing frozen chicken alone, not to talk of other products the project is taking care of; the rice, soya and other things.
“So what this means is that if we are able to do this consistently and we are able to sustain it, as time goes on, these monies will be kept in the country. It is going to support our economy, GDP will be more stable and the exchange rate will also be stable.”
Poultry specialist Ricky Aboagye Poku highlighted the importance of this intervention, stating that it will significantly reduce Ghana’s food insecurity and vulnerability to climate change.
“The main objective of this project is to reduce food insecurity and improve the capacity of our food systems to withstand the shocks of climate change; thus improving our resilience most, especially for the smallholders who normally are affected most with weather variabilities.
“For the poultry, our emphasis is on broiler production. We see that there’s more challenge when it comes to the broiler aspect so that’s what the project has selected.”