Sunyani, Feb. 8, - The
Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is committed to collaborating with all
stakeholders on ways to promote the development of the poultry sub-sector in
the country.
Dr Cyril T. Quist, the
Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of MoFA, said the sector has the potential to
save the country several millions of funds in the area of import substitution.
Dr Quist was speaking on behalf
of Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister of Food and Agriculture at the launch
of the second edition of the Poultry Value Chain Fair (2nd PVCF) held in
Sunyani.
The event held under the theme:
“Employment Creation along the Poultry Value Chain: the Public-Private
Partnership Approach: is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21 – Thursday, March
22, 2018 in Sunyani.
It is being organised by the
Ghana Poultry Project (GPP), Assist Management in Poultry Layer Industry by
Feed Improvement and Efficiency Strategies (AMPLIFIES), Ghana National
Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF) in collaboration with Agrihouse
Foundation and MoFA.
Dr Quist said the 2017 Ghana
Poultry Report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates
local broiler meat production at 35,000 tons, representing less than 25 per
cent of domestic demand.
That means that there was still
more work to do so as to improve local poultry production, he said.
Dr Quist identified high feed
cost as one of the major factors affecting profitability of the poultry sector
because that reportedly represents 60 per cent of the production cost.
He said this would soon be a
thing of the past, as the government continued to take steps to address some of
those challenges through its flagship programme in agriculture- Planting for
Food and Jobs (PfFJ) and other programmes.
Ms Carianne De Boar, Chief of
Party (CoP), GPP, said the theme for the event is strategic to avert the minds
of all sector players to the sustainability of the local poultry industry
through increased participation and inclusions of all actors in the poultry
value chain where shared sustainable agreements could be fostered.
She said the fair would showcase
what poultry enterprises were achieving together with other actors in business
and government.
It is also about giving
Ghanaians, especially young men and women the knowledge and information to
begin identifying for themselves numerous opportunities existing within the
local poultry space and to connect with entrepreneurs who could help them to unlock their own growth and income
opportunities in agriculture, Ms. De Boar said.
She stated that the GPP believes
in the enormous potential of smallholder farmers, poultry entrepreneurs and
associations nationwide to drive economic growth and enhance resilience in
their communities which “the youth have a part to play in it”.
“To the GPP, offering this trade
platform to tell the stories of how farmers are learning to become more
efficient, how poultry businesses are innovating to overcome constraints in the
Value Chain and maximise benefits, is a necessary picture to challenge our
youth and gain more traction for alternative livelihoods in agriculture”, Ms.
De Boar emphasised.
Mr Kweku B. Tuoho, a member of
the planning committee, said the 2nd PVCF was launched to conform to the two
strategic objectives of GPP in line with the goals of USDA which would be
expected to be achieved at the end of the event.
Those USDA goals, he said, are to
“increase agriculture productivity in the PVC through capacity building,
improving input markets, promoting strategic investments and private-public
partnerships” as well as “increase the trade of poultry products by improving
product quality, increasing production efficiency, improved post production,
and improving market linkages”.
Mr Tuoho said in the 1st PVCF
held in Kumasi in 2017, an average of 610 participants who were mainly actors
along the PVC and 40 exhibitors of poultry production inputs and products
participated but with the impending one, an average of 1000 visitors and not
less than 120 exhibitors are expected to participate.
GNA
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