The Head of the Frafraha Station of the Animal Research Institute of the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, Prof. Edmund Sottie, has said livestock production in Ghana can be a very viable business if done in a very deliberate manner.
Prof. Sottie, speaking at Citi FM’s Operation Feed Yourself agribusiness forum on Saturday, said the general practice of livestock production in Ghana has been about leaving the livestock to feed on free-range without much control about what they feed on.
He stated that such practice leaves the animals to feed on waste and in some cases on refuse dumps which makes them unwholesome as well as prone to premature deaths.
He maintained that if livestock farmers should provide proper management of the stock which controls their feed and the sort of environmental conditions they are exposed to, they would be able to turn the venture into a highly profitable business.
Prof. Sottie stated that there is a huge demand for meat in Ghana as well as other dairy products which makes livestock production one of the vast untapped segments of the country’s agricultural sector.
He told participants that CSIR has come up with a number of species i.e goat, sheep and cattle etc, that withstand some of the harshest environmental conditions.
Participation for the event is limited to participants who pre-registered for the event.
About the programme
The programme was outdoored by the Managing Director of Citi FM and Citi TV Samuel Attah-Mensah as part of activities marking the 15th anniversary of Citi FM.
“We are talking about people who are not farmers, middle-income earners, tertiary students and people who are in the urban areas to look at farming and agribusiness as another means to generate revenue, compliment the revenues and basically to feed themselves,” he explained.
It features various resource persons in agribusiness such as consultants, agencies, institutions and agribusiness firms to assist participants to plug into the agribusiness industry and the opportunities within.
General Manager of Citi FM and Citi TV, Bernard Avle, who is the moderator for the event in an opening remark assured patrons of an insightful engagement to enable them venture into agribusiness.
The project takes inspiration from the famous agricultural program administered in Ghana under military General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong in 1978.
It is expected that the project would result in abundant food for local consumption and processing, job creation and opportunities for import substitution as well as making the sector attractive again.
The programme is also meant to prepare participants to enable them to start their agribusiness journeys.
