As a policy directive to help revamp the local poultry industry, government must restrict the importation of frozen chicken drastically, Chartered Banker and Chief Executive Officer of Afridon Farms in Koforidua in the Eastern region, Mavis Afriyie has appealed.
The ‘ban’ on imported frozen chicken, she indicated, is in response to the cry of domestic poultry actors that the trade practice is one of the major challenges ‘collapsing’ the local poultry industry.
Excessive importation of frozen chicken as well as high costs of production have been the bane of local poultry production since the early 2000.
Over 135,000 metric tonnes of frozen chicken representing a 76% increase over 2016 import, was imported from the European Zone to Ghana in 2017.
Mavis Afriyie Donkor however hinted that government must not hesitate to reverse the import restriction on frozen chicken if local producers are unable to meet the demand of the market, thereby urging local poultry producers to intensify their efforts to address the artificial shortage.
“Ideally, poultry industry can feed the consumers with locally-produced chicken. Local producers must advance from the era ofselling birds with feathers to marketing processed birds and chicken meat products, including sausages and barbecue. We must develop value chains that will make all the difference in our earnings from the poultry industry. The time to begin is now,” she added.
According to her government must not relent in its effort to transform the poultry industry into a beacon of economic empowerment and development.
“While government will roll out specific interventions to support the smallholder local poultry sector, the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign takes into account reducing the cost of feed inputs which forms more than 60% of poultry production costs.”
Government is urged to devise more prudent policies that will cushion growth and development of the local poultry industry along its value chain. The poultry industry is positively impacting the economy of many countries across the globe, of which Nigeria and Ivory Coast are not exemption.
Underscoring the importance of attending to all critical variables, such as provision of quality and competitive inputs, reating an enabling environment to boost local poultry production; Mavis Afriyie said the Dutch government’s commitment to assist Ghana with expertise in reposition ing the country’s poultry industry should not be giving priority.
Source: Austin Ofori Addo/ritefmonline.org
