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The World Bank and ECOWAS are funding a two million broiler production program this year to reduce Ghana’s excessive $600 million annual poultry imports, as part of the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP).
The initiative, aimed at increasing local poultry production and working towards self-sufficiency, is being implemented by FSRP, which is currently reviewing submissions received under ECOWAS’s auspices. Approximately 300,000 Ghanaians are expected to benefit directly from the project, with over one million estimated as indirect beneficiaries.
The five-year project aims to strengthen food system risk management in collaboration with ECOWAS and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), addressing common natural phenomena affecting food production in the sub-region.
Currently, Ghana produces only 15% of its national poultry needs, with locals providing around 50,000 tonnes annually, mainly layers due to a substantial egg market, with spent layers also being sold, but broilers face challenges finding a market due to competition from imports and the lack of an off-taker by the eighth week.
The project’s support will be provided by large-scale commercial farmers, who will work with smallholder farmers, encouraging them to market processed whole birds or packaged chicken parts instead of selling live birds.
The project will cover production costs by supplying day-old chicks, feed, and vaccines to beneficiary farmers, who must demonstrate processing and marketing capacity to qualify for support.
Each batch of beneficiaries will receive support for three years, with farmers repaying part of the support at each year-end while retaining remaining amounts as a subsidy plus their profits. The FSRP will continue implementing a combination of adaptive, innovative, and sustainable interventions to enhance the resilience of vulnerable households, families, farmers, and communities against uncertainty and shocks affecting food production and supply.
BY:AGRIWATCH
