According to the Ghana Poultry Farmers Association, an acute shortage of feed is threatening the survival of the country’s poultry industry.
Added to this is an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the country.
Ghana’s poultry sector has, for over 2 decades, experienced a steep decline. Photo: Chatnarin Pramnapan
Ghana’s poultry sector has, for over 2 decades, experienced a steep decline. Photo: Chatnarin Pramnapan
“All poultry farms in Ghana are on the verge of collapse if no drastic measures are taken by the government […] to sustain the industry,” the chairman of the association, Isaac Essiaw, told Xinhua, adding that the high cost of feed was mainly due to the increasing price of maize, which constitutes a significant portion of poultry feed.
High cost of feed
Furthermore, the prices of other feed ingredients, including wheat bran, have also increased, which he attributes to the uncharacteristic low rainfall during the 2021 season.
This comes after Poultry World reported that the high cost of maize, soybeans and other poultry feed ingredients had already caused the price of eggs in the Bono Region of Ghana, a hub for egg production, to rise by about 50% earlier this year. Exacerbating the situation further was a flood that destroyed nearly 6,000 ha of farmlands in 2020.