The Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association has urged Ghanaians to consume more of locally produced poultry products.
This comes on the back of Brazil, a major foreign supplier of poultry products to Ghana, reportedly recorded cases of COVID-19 in poultry meat.
President of the Association, Michael Nyarko Ampem, in an interview also called on government to invest in the sector to enable local poultry farmers increase their market share from the current ten percent to about sixty percent.
“There should be some form of reduction to maybe forty percent then local production will be sixty percent. It is important that we must always be mindful of the fact that there is COVID-19 around, however, we should not panic that there is COVID in the meat.”
For some time now, local poultry farmers have been advocating for this move but he believes it has become more crucial for government to consider it amidst the increasingly disturbing effects of COVID-19 on Brazil.
Currently, Ghanaians consume only 10 percent of local poultry as compared to the more patronized foreign products which make up 90 percent of total consumption.
“Again, since March we have realized that there has been an increase in the consumption of local poultry, so if we continue with the consumption of local poultry then we don’t have to be worried about foreign imports. Although WHO has ruled out animal to human transfer of COVID-19, I understand the concern people will have and so local poultry consumption is safe.”
Chicken is the most consumed poultry product in Ghana. Poultry imports have remained high due to increasing demand and the decline in domestic commercial poultry meat production.
Ghana’s poultry imports come from the United States, Brazil and the European Union (EU). A breakdown shows that supplies from the United States constitute over 40 percent of market share, while European countries and Brazil have 25 percent each of Ghana’s market share.
According to reports, Ghanaians have a liking to imported poultry because they are cheaper than locally produced poultry and it is already pre-cut into parts like the leg quarters and wings, processed whole chicken and gizzards.
Hence, the convenience of a ready to use chicken product has increased consumer demand.
Michael Nyarko Ampem further called on local producers to invest in packaging their poultry products into portions as a way of meeting the needs of consumers in the country.
On August 14, 2020, it was reported that the Philippines also imposed a temporary ban on poultry meat imports from Brazil after two cities in China allegedly found traces of the new coronavirus in cargoes of imported frozen food, including chicken wings from the South American country.
