The Volta Regional Chairman of the Pig Farmers Association, Alexander Kay Jay, has urged all Ghanaian pig farmers to consider pig farming as a business, as that is the only way to keep their business running.
The Pig Farmers Association of Ghana has attributed the recent increase in the price of pork to the increase in feed and other factors. The Association, following this assertion, has resorted to some price adjustments of between 15% and 25% to make up for the rise in feed prices.
“I want to urge my colleagues to take pig farming as a business because it is only through this that we can survive.”
Alexander Kay
Adding to the discussion, the President of the Association, Kwame Appiah Danquah, in an interview, said that the leadership of the Association needed to effect these new price changes for pork because of the increase in the price of goods.
“As the leadership of the Association, we cannot sit aloof and watch while businesses of our members fold up as a result of an increase in feed prices and some cases, feed shortages- the reason we have increased the prices per kilo of pork. Food ingredients have gone extremely high, and some pig farmers have decided to fold up. So we did the calculations and decided on price adjustments between 15% to 25%. These adjustments will only keep us in business and not make a profit till things change, then we can start making a profit.”
Kwame Appiah Danquah
The pig industry has been neglected by Government
The leadership also lamented over the Government neglecting the pig industry and the fact that they also struggle in getting retail outlets in the various malls to purchase their products and have pleaded with the Government to consider importing some feed ingredients to compensate for the scarcity.
“We are worried that the Government has not been supporting us as expected. One of our challenges is that we cannot get the retail outlets at the mall to purchase our products, and they prefer the foreign products to ours. We have been struggling with price fluctuation and the issue of availability of feed. The feed initially used to come regularly, but we don’t know what changed, and we are hoping the Government will support us by importing the feed to support the ones here. We are sometimes forced to slaughter our animals for lack of feed, which is not good.”
Kwame Appiah Danquah
Other Association members express varied opinions
Some members of the Association across the country have expressed varied opinions on how the sector should be run and how the government can meet them halfway.
The Central Regional Chairman of the Association, who is also the National Secretary of the Association, Ing. George Ayarik, expressed worry over why the government’s Rearing for Food initiative has not partnered with the Association to feed the second cycle institutions with pork.
“I was fed on pork during my secondary school days, but I don’t know what changed, and I urge the government to support us. This will also ease the burden on the other meat supplies such as chicken and beef,” the National Secretary said.
Some experts have applauded the bravery of the Association leaders for bringing to light their challenges and have advised that the other farmers rearing other livestock should also voice out their challenges. It’s been only and always about the poultry industry, say the experts.
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