The Chief Executive Officer of Rockland Farms, Edith Akosah Wheatland, has called for a long-term, legally backed roadmap to guide the implementation of the government's Nkoko Nkit
The report indicates that the Chief Executive Officer of Rockland Farms, Edith Akosah Wheatland, has called for a long-term, legally backed roadmap to guide the implementation of the government’s Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative, arguing that Ghana’s poultry industry cannot be transformed through short-term interventions.
It further notes that speaking during Joy Business’ high-level thought leadership roundtable on the Super Morning Show, on the theme “Can Ghana Feed Itself? The Future of Poultry Beyond Nkoko Nkitinkiti,” Ms Wheatland stated the poultry sector requires a coordinated strategy that transcends political administrations.
According to her, meaningful transformation of the industry will require sustained commitment over at least two decades.
“What we are talking about today is not a three-year thing that we can do. We need at least a 10 to 20-year roadmap backed by a legal document so that when there is a change of government, it cannot be changed. The poultry sector has to follow that roadmap. That is how we will be able to transform it,” she said.
Ms Wheatland explained that Rockland Farms invested heavily in feed production after recognising that feed accounts for about 80 per cent of the cost of raising broiler chickens.
Building its own feed mill, she said, has enabled the company to reduce production costs while creating opportunities for thousands of maize farmers.
“We realised that 80 per cent of the cost of the broiler is the feed. Buying it from elsewhere was making our cost of production higher, so we built our own feed mill,” she explained.
The company now operates a feed mill capable of producing between eight and 10 tonnes of feed per hour and works with nearly 8,000 smallholder maize farmers.
“We have close to 8,000 smallholder farmers producing maize for us. We provide them with technical support to improve their yields, which also helps bring down our cost of production in the broiler sector,” she said.
Reflecting on her entrepreneurial journey, Ms Wheatland stated success in poultry farming requires careful planning, investment and continuous learning.
She recalled approaching a poultry expert six years ago after announcing her ambition to produce six million birds annually.
“I told him I wanted to produce six million birds a year. He asked me to call him back. I called several times, but he didn’t respond. Looking back, I realised I wasn’t ready. I didn’t know what I was talking about,” she recounted.
Rather than becoming discouraged, she stated the experience motivated her to build the necessary expertise.
“I used that disappointment as a learning curve. We started from zero. We had to learn how to get the feed right and how to get everything right. Capacity building is one of the key areas we have to focus on if we want to solve the problems in the poultry sector.”
