They indicated that the Ghana Poultry Project (GPP) and the AMPLIFIES Ghana, rolled out and funded by the USDA, had significantly transformed the industry by exposing players to smart innovations and technologies that had increased their competiveness.

These observations were made at a learning event organized by the USDA to share the outcomes of the two projects with beneficiary farmers, feed producers and other actors in the value chain.

Participants also discussed the sustainability of the interventions after the projects wind up soon.

While GPP seeks to increase the competitiveness of domestic production and processing of poultry meat and eggs, AMPLIFIES focuses on feed preparation and promotion of egg consumption in Ghana.

Both the GPP and AMPLIFIES are five-year projects being facilitated by ACDI/VOCA and TechnoServe with the aim of boosting local poultry production.

The target groups are poultry farmers and associations, ancillary service businesses, government agencies, feed producers, animal research institutions, poultry processors and sellers as well as hospitality providers, among others.

They are strategically prioritizing national and regional trade in poultry products and sector-related inputs and service markets.

Participants took turns to praise the USDA for the positive impact the interventions have had on their businesses and by extension their families.

They were particularly happy about how the intervention had led to increased broiler production with a significantly low production cost.

According to them, it took poultry farmers between 10-12 weeks to raise broilers with its attendant high cost of feeding prior to the project but after the exposure to new techniques and best practices, the duration had reduced to six weeks maximum.

They said the numerous trainings they had received under the project had built their capacities to effectively manage their businesses, which was translating into increase in profit.

Mr Raymond Denteh, the Deputy Chief of Party of GPP, said 11,971 people, 39 per cent being women, had directly benefitted from the project.

Officials from 25 financial institutions were also trained in poultry risk assessment and management.

He said the project had also trained 300 Community Animal Health Workers as extension agents to provide services to 7,000 poultry households in 180 communities.

The project had facilitated US$11 million worth of loans to poultry value chain actors, he said.