The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is supporting two anchor farms to scale up poultry production and processing as part of the Rearing for Food and Jobs programme.
The Rockland and Boris B Farms, both in the Ashanti Region, are the two anchor farms benefiting from the initiative, which targets job creation and reduction in the importation of poultry products.
Under the initiative, dubbed: “The Broiler Project,” the beneficiary farms are receiving a 50 per cent subsidy on feed, vaccines and day-old chicks to cushion them to produce more in response to local demand for poultry.
The Government through the Obaatanpa Cares Programme is also subsidizing 50 per cent of interest on bank loans for the beneficiary farms as an incentive to expand their businesses.
The two farms, which are also into the processing of poultry products, work closely with other out-grower farms that supply them with broilers for processing onto the market. This is to encourage the beneficiary farms to increase production through the creation of a ready market while promoting the consumption of local poultry.
A team of officials from MoFA and the Finance Ministry were in the Ashanti Region to monitor the progress of the project and expressed the belief that it would yield the expected dividend if sustained and extended to more anchor farmers across the country.
Led by Mr Edwin Bekoe, the Director of Animal Production, MoFA, the team visited the processing units of the farms, and some selected out growers. The members were taken through the various stages of processing and packaging poultry meat as workers of the facilities engaged in their daily routines.
Mr Bekoe applauded them for adding value to local bird production while creating jobs for Ghanaians. According to the Director, one of the major problems the project sought to address was the large-scale importation of chicken into the country. He added that building the capacity of local farmers is necessary to address the perennial challenges of the sector.
The initial plan, according to the Director, was to engage as many poultry farmers as possible, “but a lot of challenges were encountered hence the decision to target anchor farmers, who have the capacity to process poultry meat and bring other out growers on board”.
Project Suffers Setbacks
Mr Bekoe disclosed that financing the project suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic so, the Obaatan Cares Programme stepped in to subsidize 50 per cent of interest on loans for the farmers. “The ultimate goal is to achieve zero importation of chicken, but it will take us a few years to get there looking at the gap and the current economic crisis,” he said.
Mr Michael Baidoo, a Technical Officer at the Ministry of Finance, averred that the intervention by Obaatanpa Cares is to make funds accessible to the farmers to grow their businesses. He indicated that the team is impressed with the level of productivity at the processing units and expressed the readiness of the programme to support them to achieve the desired results.
Ms Edith Akosah Wheatland, the Chief Executive Officer of Rockland Farms, noted that her outfit has the capacity to process 5,000 birds a day, adding that the vision is to establish a bigger factory to process eight million birds a year. She intimated that the intervention by the Government is a step in the right direction to spur growth, but also noted that more could be done in the form of tax waiver to make the local poultry industry competitive.
Mr Boris Baidoo, the Chief Executive Officer of Boris B Farms, on his part, commended the Government for its support and called for investment in machinery.
