Yet another attempt is to be made to revive Ghana’s poultry industry, devastated by a decade of dumped poultry imports from areas such as the European Union.
Imports had reduced Ghana’s chicken production to 5% of the local market, then President John Mahama, told the United Nations in 2016. That resulted in a $87 million “Broiler revitalisation programme” as Ghana’s poultry industry accused the EU of “unfair competition”.
Now, WATT Poultry reports, Ghana’s local market share is back to 5% and new resuscitation measures are needed.
Mahama swept back into power in last December’s elections, and his new agriculture minister, Eric Opoku, has pledged government support to reinvigorate Ghanaian poultry farming.
Domestic production is facing a crisis, he said, identifying some of the sector’s biggest challenges as high feed costs, and competition from cheaper poultry meat imports.
“We cannot afford to let this sector, which has so much potential, continue to struggle,” said Opoku.
WATT Poultry said the most recent figure for Ghana’s domestic chicken meat output was 50,482 metric tons (mt) in 2023.
Ghana’s heavy dependence on imported chicken was highlighted in a report by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) from February of 2024.
“At that time, the agency was forecasting Ghanaian chicken imports for the marketing year 2024 at 270,000mt. This source puts the level of self-sufficiency for the meat at just 5%.
“The figure was unchanged from the previous 12 months, despite announcements of generous government support for the poultry industry under the previous administration,” WATT Poultry reported.
Mahama highlighted the importance of food security when he announced Opoku’s appointment.
“Ghanaians are looking for food security and they’re looking for cheap and affordable food to fill their stomachs,” the Ghanaian president said, according to Graphic.com.
