Agriculture Minister-nominee, Eric Opoku, has outlined plans to revamp Ghana’s poultry sector through targeted initiatives aimed at increasing production and reducing food prices.
Speaking during his vetting yesterday, January 20, he emphasised the critical role of affordable poultry feed in addressing food inflation and stabilising the prices of eggs and poultry products.
“We are going to focus on the production of poultry feed to make it more affordable, which will ultimately help bring down food prices in Ghana,” he stated.
He highlighted a proposed “Poultry Farm-to-Table Programme” in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto, aimed at closing the gap between poultry demand and supply. The programme, he explained, will provide financial resources to poultry farmers, enabling them to expand their operations and increase production.
“A key aspect of this programme is working with the Poultry Farmers Association to provide financial support. This will help farmers bridge the huge gap between demand and supply, while also focusing on making poultry feed more affordable,” Mr. Opoku added.
Citing a recent Ghana Statistical Service report, Mr. Opoku noted that rising food inflation, which has climbed from 23% to 27.8%, is partly driven by the increasing cost of eggs, stressing the urgency of investing in the poultry sector to curb this trend.
He also clarified that the proposed “nkuk) nkitikiti” initiatives would build on existing programmes, enhancing them with credit facilities and expanding veterinary services to ensure greater effectiveness.
“This is not a new programme; it is an ongoing initiative that we intend to improve. For instance, in the 2020 budget, the government outlined certain measures, but we will go further by adding credit facilities and deploying more veterinary services to achieve tangible results,” he explained.
