Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, offers a potential new market for sales of eggs and other poultry products, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly’s (KMA’s) Chief Executive, Osei Assibey-Antwi has said.
According to him, the huge population of the city and its strategic location offer opportunities to Ghanaian poultry farmers to expand their businesses and increase production in order to reap the needed economic benefit.
Speaking at the opening session of the Second International Poultry, Aquaculture and Livestock exhibition in Kumasi, Mr Assibey called on Ghanaian youth to consider agriculture as a rewarding economic activity.
It is being organised by Pals Africa in collaboration with other stakeholders and players in the industry to create a platform for investors and farmers to participate in the growth of the sector.
For the KMA boss, agriculture has become central to the job creation agenda of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration which intends to modernize the agriculture sector for the transformation of the economy, ensure food security and reduce poverty.
The Regional Director of Agriculture, Rev John Manu said the expose 2017 was seeking to afford investors the opportunity to invest in areas where government alone cannot afford in the immediate future.
“It is also to cut down imports of products like frozen chicken, milk, day old chicks and other areas where production can be done locally with Ghanaian partners.”
He stated that since the nation has the potential to develop the poultry, aquaculture and livestock industry, the organisation of events such as the exhibition is timely and invited farmers and other stakeholders to take advantage of the programme.
CEO of Pals Africa, John Bewuah Edusei entreated the nation’s politicians to invest in the poultry sector to grow the industry and the economy at large.
According to him, this will help reduce the over 250,000 metric tonnes of chicken importation and eating of frozen chicken from Brazil, which stays on the sea for 45 days and takes two weeks to be cleared at the port.
He called on government to regulate chicken import so as to boost local production.
Source: Daily Guide
