Poultry farming business is one of the sectors many experts have predicted as a cash cow for investors due to the high demand for poultry products, especially chicken and eggs. However, the sector has been struggling to grow in Ghana with about 85% of farms collapsing, according to the poultry farmers association of Ghana.
While sharing best practices on how to make the best out of a poultry farm as a business venture, the Municipal Agric Director, Amenfi West, Patience Amoah Frimpong has shared some tips to help farmers make generate enough revenue from the business.
While granting an interview to the Ghanaian Farmer TV Show, Madam Frimpong stated that farmers should “take care of your biosecurity and take care of surrounding such as having a footbath that will ensure visitors bathe their feet before entering the pen. Doing this helps to prevent pathogens. You need to take your vaccinations seriously and follow the procedures very well.”
Talking about the duration for keeping poultry birds, she disclosed that “you need to keep your layers between 12, 16 to 24 months.”
While explaining why poultry farmers should not keep their layer birds beyond this period, the Amenfi West Agric Director stated that “during this times, farmers should lay attention to the kind of feed they give to the birds. Give the feeds that contain the required nutrients in order to lay enough birds. After 24 months, sell the birds off because they lay fewer eggs because the layer is old. They will eat a lot of keeps but will produce fewer eggs and also be very small in size.”
Patience Amoah Frimpong also shared tips about marketing. She advised starters to look at the market before going into poultry farming. “The farmers need to look at the demand based on where they live. If you live in an area where the demand for eggs is high, go in for layers. Record keeping is also an important part of success in poultry farming.”
Meanwhile, Ghana became the 15th largest importer of poultry meat in the world after importing $410M worth of the product in 2021. In the same year, chicken was the 6th most imported product in Ghana.
In a related development, the government through a programme dubbed “Broiler Revitalization Project” plans to stop poultry import in the next 5 years. According to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, it plans to produce a total of 20 million day-old chicks as part of the project and distribute them to selected poultry farmers nationwide.
The program is planned in 5 phases, with each one covering a period of one year and expected to record the production of 4 million chicks.
The current chicken production potential in Ghana is estimated at 4.4 million birds but over the years, the local producers have been suffocated by frozen poultry imports from the EU member states.
The Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association (GAPFA) are optimistic that poultry farmers across the country would take advantage of the project to expand their operations if implemented.
