The Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association says it is optimistic that the Agricultural Development Bank’s credit facility to the poultry industry will go a long way to boost local poultry production and subsequently reduce importation.
Adb has announced a 500 million cedis loan facility to boost the operations of poultry farmers in the country.
The bank has already approved 25 million cedis for the initial phase of the project to process over a hundred thousand birds per week in the Bono Region.
Adb by this gesture is seeking to reduce Ghana’s annual chicken import which stands at over 350 million dollars annually.
Government has indicated its commitment to increase local production and eventually ban importation by the year 2023.
While commending adb for the support, President of the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association, Michael Nyarko-Ampem, however said the bank can achieve its objective if the money is disbursed appropriately.
“It can bring down the importation of poultry if it is done in such a way that the actual beneficiaries receive the money. How the money is disbursed is also a factor. I have always advocated for the money to be disbursed through associations because they know the poultry farmers.”
“The co-chain facility must also be provided whether by adb or through an investor or by government so that when the birds are arranged, there is a place to hold them before consumers buy them” he explained.