President John Dramani Mahama has announced a bold new initiative aimed at revitalising Ghana’s poultry industry and reducing the country’s heavy dependence on imported chicken.
The initiative dubbed the ‘Nkokɔ nkiti nkiti’ programme,forms the third major component of the broader Feed Ghana Programme.
Speaking during the official launch of Feed Ghana Programme on Saturday, April 12 at Techiman, President Mahama underscored the urgent need to cut back on poultry imports, which he said currently cost Ghana nearly $400 million annually.
He stated that the ‘Nkokɔ nkiti nkiti’ project, also known as the Poultry Farm to Table initiative, will be implemented in collaboration with the Poultry Farmers Association and is designed to strengthen every stage of the poultry value chain. This includes hatcheries, feed mills, veterinary services, and poultry processing centres.
“This year, we’re going to register 50 anchor farmers who will be supported to produce four million birds, equivalent to 10,000 metric tonnes of chicken,” the President disclosed.
In addition to commercial production, a supplementary household-level initiative will see 55,000 homes across the country supported to rear 500 birds each annually.
To support the effective implementation of the entire Feed Ghana Programme, the government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to deploy 5,000 agriculture and veterinary graduates. These professionals will support the institutional framework and, as vacancies arise, be permanently absorbed into the public sector.
