The National Broiler Project, an offshoot of the Nkoko Nkitinkiti Initiative, is gradually taking shape with the rollout of a poultry processing pilot programme.

Under the pilot, more than 100,000 birds have been processed across three companies since December 2025.

During a tour of Aglow Farms at Gomoa Potsin in the Central Region yesterday, the National Coordinator of the National Broiler Project Directorate at the Ministry of Special Initiatives, Office of the President, Mr Kelvin Ocran, said the target was to process 18 million birds this year.

He explained that the pilot had gone through three phases and was now ready for full-scale rollout.

“This facility can process 100,000 birds a week, and we are going to scale it up to 300,000 a week across three working shifts in line with government’s 24-hour economy policy,” he said.

With Ghana importing about 400,000 tonnes of processed chicken annually, Mr Ocran said there was already an existing market for locally processed chicken.

According to him, agreements had been reached with outgrowers to supply processing firms with birds to meet local demand.

Production for the commercial market, he said, would commence during the next production cycle next month.

Mr Ocran added that cold storage facilities were also being developed as part of the project’s value chain.

He said as part of the marketing strategy, a module had been designed to allow corporate workers to access processed chicken under deferred payment terms.

He estimated that hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs would be created under the project.

The Executive Director of Aglow Farms and Team Lead for the Broiler Project, Nana Boakye, said his company currently processed 1.5 million birds annually but had the capacity to triple output under the initiative.

Mr Boakye indicated that the facility’s staff strength, which currently stands at 500 across the value chain, was expected to triple in the coming months when the project becomes fully operational.

“When it comes to broiler production, Aglow Farms is at the forefront. Early last year, we opened our own retail outlet, so this programme will be a feather in our cap, enabling us to produce more for the open market,” he stated.