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The “Nkoko Nketenkete” project, a key element of the government’s Feed Ghana Program, has been officially launched by President John Dramani Mahama with the goal of reviving the nation’s poultry industry and encouraging self-sufficiency in local chicken production.
Speaking at the occasion, President Mahama bemoaned Ghana’s unsustainable spending of more than $350 million on imported poultry in 2023.
According to him, the new program aims to reverse this tendency by enabling local farmers to raise, prepare, and eat chicken that is grown in Ghana, thereby reviving pride in the country’s agricultural capabilities.
The President said that strategies are being implemented to significantly lower poultry imports in order to achieve the government’s long-term goal of increasing poultry self-sufficiency from the current 12 percent to over 75 percent by 2028.
He clarified that the government is strengthening the poultry value chain from the home level to large-scale commercial production through a three-pronged strategy under the Feed Ghana Programme.
Fifty anchored farmers from around the country have been carefully chosen as part of this.
With a total output goal of 4 million birds, each will receive 80,000 poultry birds, housing facilities, logistics, and technical support.
Additionally, 500 small and medium-sized poultry farmers in every region are receiving funding to produce an additional 3 million birds under the Food Systems Resilience Program.
President Mahama disclosed that the government will deliver 3 million chicken birds to all 276 constituencies as part of the Nkoko Nketenkete project, with 10,000 birds going to each constituency.
Each of the 60,000 homes who will benefit from the program will receive 50 birds, feed assistance, and technical advice to guarantee the project’s survival.
He announced plans to build a state-of-the-art chicken processing factory in Bechem and mentioned that the program has already been piloted in 13 districts, helping 13,000 poultry producers.
For small and medium-sized producers in the Ashanti, Bono, and Bono East Regions, the facility will provide a quick market.
President Mahama asked Ghanaians to support the initiative, emphasizing that local industry supporting is the first step towards national development.
“Let us take pride in producing what we eat and eating what we produce,” President Mahama stated.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
