The President of the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, Mr George Dassah, has attributed the high cost of local poultry products to the high cost of some of the ingredients used in the production of poultry feed.

Mr Dassah noted that while the price of ingredients such as maize, had seen in a reduction on the market, other ingredients such as soya had not seen significant reduction, while other poultry farmers imported some of the ingredients at a higher cost.

Speaking to The Ghanaian Times in an interview yesterday, Mr Dassah said “When it comes to poultry production, the feed alone constitutes about 65 per cent royalty 70 per cent of the whole cost of production. When you take the feed component, maize alone is about 60 per cent, and soya is about 30 per cent. However, most of the poultry feed is not just about the maize and the soya.”

“Before the reduction in the price of maize, we were buying broiler concentrate at GH¢ 640. Now, as we speak, it has just been reduced by GH¢ 40. Also, most of the soya that we use is being imported because the locally produced ones have a higher fat component,” Mr Dassah added.

He further stressed the importance of the establishment of processing plants for poultry farmers in the country to help in the reduction and importation of poultry products in the country.

Mr Dassah hinted that his outfit would soon come out with standard prices for poultry products, adding “We are not also oblivious of the fact that sometimes locations and transportation cost is also a factor that contributes to the high price of poultry products.”

He said thathe was doubtful about the success of the ‘NkokoNkitinkiti’ policy of the governmentdue to the high importation of poultry products.

“When the ‘NkokoNkitinkiti’ policy started, we poultry farmers thought that if that policy implemented very well, it is actually going to be a game changer for the poultry sector.  But one year down the lane, the way things are going, we are doubting whether in actual fact, we can have success story about it,” Mr Dassah said.

According to Mr Dassah, the association was yet to meet with the sector Minister to discuss the ‘NkokoNkitinkiti’ policy of the government.

 However, he noted that the association had met with the Minister of Education, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, on the modalities on the purchase of poultry products by schools.

He also said that the association through capacity building seminars and conferencesencouraged it members to strictly adhere to biosecurity protocols to prevent and also prepare them adequately in the face of any possible poultry disease outbreak.

Additionally, he observed that the association plan to engage the Minister of Food and Agriculture on the preparedness of the government against any possible disease outbreak in the poultry sector.

Mr Dassah noted that despite the challenges it faced, there were many opportunities in the poultry sector, and therefore urged the government to scale-up investment in it through collaboration with the private sector.