The Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers has told Citi Business News over 10% of eggs produced annually are disposed of due to the low patronage of the product.
According to the association, though the daily production of 1.5million eggs is sufficient to meet consumption needs, the lack of sensitization has led to a drop in demand for eggs, hence profits of local poultry farmers.
The association which is facing stiff competition from poultry importers say the situation is rendering most of them profitless.
“We are confident the huge losses borne by farmers can be rectified if patronage is enhanced,” the Vice President of the Poultry Farmers Association, Napoleon Oduro said.
He was f the view that 1.5 million eggs for a country such as Ghana should be enough if demand is high.
“We are producing barely 1.5million and we are not able to sell. So 28million people. If everybody decides to consume one egg a day, that’s a lot. It will help us to create jobs; it will bring income to government because we shall be paying taxes,” he said.
“It will also bring more money into the pocket of the poultry farmers. It will also help improve the health of our children and even the adult. So it is very significant for us to look at egg production and consumption in the country.” he added.
He disclosed that lots of eggs are disposed of due the low demand from Ghanaians.
“We throw away a lot of eggs per annum. About 10% of our products go to waste every year because we are not able to sell just because of the bad mentality Ghanaians have about egg. You go to the poultry farms we throw away eggs all the time.”
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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana