Some poultry farmers in the Asokwa Municipality of the Ashanti Region have urged government and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, to assist them to access soft loans from the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre, MASLOC, and other financial institutions to sustain their businesses.
The farmers say they may be forced to lay off workers if they do not get help immediately. Their appeal follows the death of birds, which they have blamed on the impact of the harmattan season.
According to the poultry farmers, they lost many of their birds to the harmattan condition as the birds could not withstand the impact of the weather. This has also been attributed to the farmers’ inability to purchase drugs to protect their livestock during the season.
A visit by Citi Business News to the Osei Wiredu Farms at Atonsu-Dompoase within the Asokwa Municipality, confirmed the plight of poultry farmers as dead birds were seen in their numbers.
Co-owner of the farm, Emelia Osei Wiredu, who emerged as the Best farmer in the Asokwa Municipality in 2019, spoke about how the farm has been impacted by the prevailing weather condition.
“The chicks we bought from one company, have all died. We even decided to take a legal action against them and have incurred losses in the litigation process, but we have been unsuccessful. We then secured loans to help us in our business, but with the harsh weather condition which started in November, the birds are unable to withstand because of the heat. Aside from the heat, they have been infected by a disease called E. Coli, and more than three hundred birds have died. They are also unable to lay eggs as they used to”.
In order to sustain the poultry industry, she wants government to help farmers to secure soft loans from the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre, MASLOC and other financial institutions.
“I am appealing to authorities in the agric sector to help us. For the past three years, I have been applying to get assistance from MASLOC since it has low interest rate, but it has been unsuccessful. For me, I think with the maize at the various warehouses, government can supply us with some and arrange a payment plan with us so we can pay in bits. It would be better as compared to poultry farmers struggling to secure loans on our own. I am appealing that government should support us especially with getting the feeds such as soya beans, maize and concentrate at subsidized prices. For instance, if one wants 50 or 100 bags, government should be able to supply to the farmer. We want Ghanaians to patronize made in Ghana businesses but it’s been difficult for us”.
The situation at the Victor Appiah Farms was not any different, as stated by its CEO, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Asokwa Poultry Farmers and Livestock Association.
“When it gets to the dry season, we face a lot of challenges. The birds have been dying because of the heat. We buy drugs for them, but within a period of two to three weeks, the disease resurfaces and they are unable to lay eggs as expected. So we then go and buy the drugs again, but about two to three weeks, we face the same challenge again. Getting soya beans, maize and the drugs is very expensive so if the government can help us with the drugs so that we can go and take them and after sometime, we pay for them, it would be better; or they should give us soft loans”.
Co-owner of the Osei Wiredu Farms, Apostle Yaw Osei Wiredu, believes the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Food and Drugs Authority, FDA, could help by scrutinizing drugs and feeds that are imported to be used on the birds, to ensure they are of high quality. According to him, the drugs on the market are mostly of low quality and as a result, they are unable to achieve the expected result.
“It is time for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Food and Drugs Authority to scrutinize those people (importers). With the drugs they import into the country, if the base is 50%, it must be 50%. There are so many inferior drugs on the market”.
The poultry farmers also believe that getting processing plants in various municipalities will serve as an avenue where farmers can kill mature birds and preserve them until they get market, in order to reduce cost that would be spent on feeding them.
A Resident Veterinary Doctor at the Amakom Veterinary Hospital, Dr. Prince Andrew Debrah, in an interview with Citi Business News advised the farmers to boost the immune system of the birds by always supplying them with Vitamin ‘C’ especially during the harmattan season.
“What we advise the farmers to do is that, they should boost the immunity of the birds by giving them vitamins notably, Vitamin C. It prevents bacteria from taking advantage due to the weakened immune system that comes during this period due to the harsh weather conditions”.