Over 400 Poultry Farms Collapse As Poor Governance Sends Ghana Full Circle

Whatsup News has gathered reports that over 400 poultry farms in the country have shut down operations due to high production costs mainly driven by the price of raw materials and feed costs.

The official corruption and poor economic management by the Akufo Addo administration have been squarely blamed for the umpteenth death of Ghana’s burgeoning poultry industry.

Ghana currently imports about 98% of poultry consumed in the country.

The situation is set to get worse and drive chicken prices through the roof, given the systematic collapse of livestock farming in Europe and the United States in the guise of climate change as well as the chemical fertilizer squeeze from the curious Russia-Ukraine war.

Recently, the President of the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF), Victor Oppong Adjei, listed other causal factors for the troubles of the industry as the prevailing interest rate, surge in chicken imports, bird flu and cost of labour.

Mr. Oppong Adjei is quoted as saying, “The current situation is dire, and our farmers are losing millions through the closure of their farms. We are at the emergency level now. As it stands, 70 percent of existing farms nationwide are empty.”

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicates that Ghana’s poultry imports have reached 360,000 metric tonnes in 2021 from 295,196 tonnes in 2020 and 258,997 tonnes in 2019.

However, domestic production hovers at around only 60,000 tonnes. Current annual poultry imports have reached more than US$200million, with the amount projected to reach more than US$ 1 billion in the next five years according to the Finance Ministry.