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President of the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAFP), Mr. Victor Oppong has expressed his delight at the first Ghanaian Hungarian Forum held at the Hungarian Embassy in Accra.
Expressing his gratitude to the Hungarian ambassador, Mr. Andras Szabo and the entire staff of the embassy, Mr. Oppong observed that organizing such a forum would create a mutual partnership between the two countries for developmental growth of the agricultural sector in Ghana.
According to him, the collaboration has coincidentally met with the current government’s flagship programs, ‘planting for food and Jobs’, One Village, One Dam among others which aim at creating jobs, increasing production and ensuring food security.
A cross-section of participants at the forum
Oppong added that his recent visit to Hungary gave him a clear indication of the capabilities of Hungarian Agric:
“My recent visit to Hungary has given me a clear indication of the capabilities and importance of Hungarian agricultural potentials and essence of modern quality innovative technologies applied to the country’s agricultural sector and with a collaborative effort, Ghana can tap or adapt and implement their technological knowledge to advance the aged methodology of farming to a valuable and desirable improvement of our conditions.
Mr. Oppong also alluded to the essence of the forum which he indicated was to provide basic foundation of practical information of all the actors in the agricultural sector.
According to him, the primary objective of the forum was to provide guidance to entrepreneurs on how to establish effective partnership, investments, contributions with the Hungarian agricultural sector and the private sector to mobilize support for agribusiness development in Ghana.
Particular attention can be given to analyzing the existing enabling environment for the poultry value chain and other important areas.
A cross section of participants at the forum
Expected benefits to be achieved from this partnership includes: thorough comprehensive negotiation with the embassy which has resulted in the introduction of a reputable company from Hungary which supplies day old chicks to the poultry industry of Ghana.
The poultry president also revealed that so far, two of the Ghanaian big Hatchery companies namely Akete Farms and Topman Farms were already receiving their supply from the said company and there is optimism that soon, other hatchery operators will also take their supply especially as guaranteed, secured and prompt delivery is inevitable with quality assurance being the hallmark of the company.
On the other hand, Mr. Victor Oppong said the poultry industry was looking forward to a partnership with other companies since local farmers were ready for the introduction of modern technological advancement of equipment like processing plants and modern poultry houses.
This, he indicated was to improve and enhance broiler production in the country where imported frozen chicken dominates the local market with about 95% dominance.
He therefore appealed to the embassy and the Hungarian private sector to consider introducing possible investment opportunities to expand and compete with the influx of imported frozen chicken as a determined reason to fight unemployment and poverty which deprives Ghanaians of exercising their social responsibilities.
By: Joyce Bedeley | ritefmonline.org
