Dr Cyril T. Quist, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of MoFA, said the sector has the potential to save the country several millions of funds in the area of import substitution.

Dr Quist was speaking on behalf of Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister of Food and Agriculture at the launch of the second edition of the Poultry Value Chain Fair (2nd PVCF) held in Sunyani.

The event held under the theme: “Employment Creation along the Poultry Value Chain: the Public-Private Partnership Approach: is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21 – Thursday, March 22, 2018 in Sunyani.

It is being organised by the Ghana Poultry Project (GPP), Assist Management in Poultry Layer Industry by Feed Improvement and Efficiency Strategies (AMPLIFIES), Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF) in collaboration with Agrihouse Foundation and MoFA.

Dr Quist said the 2017 Ghana Poultry Report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates local broiler meat production at 35,000 tons, representing less than 25 per cent of domestic demand.

That means that there was still more work to do so as to improve local poultry production, he said.

Dr Quist identified high feed cost as one of the major factors affecting profitability of the poultry sector because that reportedly represents 60 per cent of the production cost.

He said this would soon be a thing of the past, as the government continued to take steps to address some of those challenges through its flagship programme in agriculture- Planting for Food and Jobs (PfFJ) and other programmes.

Ms Carianne De Boar, Chief of Party (CoP), GPP, said the theme for the event is strategic to avert the minds of all sector players to the sustainability of the local poultry industry through increased participation and inclusions of all actors in the poultry value chain where shared sustainable agreements could be fostered.

She said the fair would showcase what poultry enterprises were achieving together with other actors in business and government.

It is also about giving Ghanaians, especially young men and women the knowledge and information to begin identifying for themselves numerous opportunities existing within the local poultry space and to connect with entrepreneurs who could help them  to unlock their own growth and income opportunities in agriculture, Ms. De Boar said. 

She stated that the GPP believes in the enormous potential of smallholder farmers, poultry entrepreneurs and associations nationwide to drive economic growth and enhance resilience in their communities which “the youth have a part to play in it”.

“To the GPP, offering this trade platform to tell the stories of how farmers are learning to become more efficient, how poultry businesses are innovating to overcome constraints in the Value Chain and maximise benefits, is a necessary picture to challenge our youth and gain more traction for alternative livelihoods in agriculture”, Ms. De Boar emphasised.

Mr Kweku B. Tuoho, a member of the planning committee, said the 2nd PVCF was launched to conform to the two strategic objectives of GPP in line with the goals of USDA which would be expected to be achieved at the end of the event.

Those USDA goals, he said, are to “increase agriculture productivity in the PVC through capacity building, improving input markets, promoting strategic investments and private-public partnerships” as well as “increase the trade of poultry products by improving product quality, increasing production efficiency, improved post production, and improving market linkages”.    

Mr Tuoho said in the 1st PVCF held in Kumasi in 2017, an average of 610 participants who were mainly actors along the PVC and 40 exhibitors of poultry production inputs and products participated but with the impending one, an average of 1000 visitors and not less than 120 exhibitors are expected to participate.