The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Agri-Impact Limited and the Happy Poultry Project, Dr Dan Acquaye, has said the development of a Poultry Master Plan is aimed at providing a cl
The report indicates that the Chief Executive Officer of Agri-Impact Limited and the Happy Poultry Project, Dr Dan Acquaye, says the proposed Poultry Master Plan is intended to provide a long-term roadmap to make Ghana self-sufficient in poultry production through a phased and coordinated approach.
It further notes that speaking during a Joy Business roundtable discussion on the theme, “Can Ghana Feed Itself? The Future of Poultry Beyond Nkoko Nkitinkiti,” Dr Acquaye stated achieving self-sufficiency in poultry production cannot be accomplished within a few years, as it requires sustained investment across the entire value chain.
According to him, increasing domestic poultry production depends not only on producing more birds but also on expanding maize and soya production, improving infrastructure, strengthening processing capacity and adopting better farming practices.
“We can’t be self-sufficient in three years. That’s almost impossible. We consume over 200 million birds annually,” Dr Acquaye said.
“For us to move, even if we have to increase production by 25 per cent, it’s not only about the supply of chicken. It’s the maize, the soya, the infrastructure, as well as the production practices.”
Dr Acquaye urged policymakers to draw lessons from previous interventions rather than repeating past mistakes.
“A key example is that when we are developing policies, we review previous policies, but we don’t always take lessons from those reviews,” he said.
“If we learn from previous policies, we will be much more circumspect in the approaches we adopt to implement a policy or strategy. We also have successful models that we can build on.”
Dr Acquaye cited the revival of Aglow-Farm as evidence that targeted investment and strategic partnerships can transform struggling poultry businesses.
He noted that price comparisons had shown locally produced chicken can compete favourably with imported products.
“We looked at price trends and saw competition between Aglow-Farm and imported chicken. In some cases, Aglow-Farm’s prices are lower than imported chicken,” he said.
Recalling the company’s turnaround, he said:
“In 2023, when Aglow-Impact, supported by the Aglow-Impact Foundation and in partnership with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, came into the space, Aglow-Farm had closed down. The infrastructure was in ruins, and thieves had even started stealing some of the equipment.”
He stated that within two years, the company had resumed operations and was now producing more than 300,000 birds a month, while securing a licence to supply KFC.
