The Poultry Farmers Association of Ghana has criticized government for failing to make the main ingredients for production of poultry feed accessible.
This, they say is a major challenge to the industry.
Government introduced the Planting for Food and Jobs program to among others provide feed to boost poultry production in Ghana.
But the poultry farmers say they are yet to benefit from the policy.
The Vice President of the association, Napoleon Agyeman Oduro explained to Citi Business News that government is yet to respond to their agitations.
“We are not against the planting for foods per say, we are unhappy about the unavailability of poultry feed ingredients which our hopes were raised so much based on planting for foods and jobs,” he said.
The Agric Minister, Dr Akoto Afriyie, in October last year (2017) said the government will concentrate on mechanising soya and maize production under the programme to boost the poultry industry.
However, members of the Poultry Farmers Association say they are yet to benefit from the programme as the price of maize and soya continue to soar on the market.
Mr. Agyeman Oduro adds that cost of the ingredient is also very high thus renders them uncompetitive.
“We will not say we are not getting benefits. It is the three main crops that have been selected to feed the poultry industry that benefits enough. But we are saying that the availability of these three ingredients for us as poultry farmers is the challenge and also the pricing” he added.
He, however, clarifies that they are in talks with government to arrive at a meaningful conclusion to the benefit of both parties.