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President John Dramani Mahama says the government is increasing support to the poultry industry to enable farmers not only to produce to meet local demand but also to push the country to become a net exporter of poultry products in the nearest future. He said he had asked the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) to make financial assistance to poultry farmers while the broiler project was ongoing. Speaking during a visit to the Akate Farms at Bosore in the Kwabre East District last Sunday as part of his three-day working visit to the Ashanti Region, the P�resident said it was unacceptable for the country to continue to import poultry products when there was the potential to exceed local demand. Ghana, he said, currently spends about $270 million annually to import poultry products, which was unacceptable. He commended Akate Farms for the tremendous work it was doing saying it was in line with the government's vision to push for the patronage of made- in-Ghana goods. The President promised to get the Roads Ministry to fix the road leading to the farms. The Akate Farms The Akate Farms, with a staff strength of 500, currently has 200,000 birds and produces 9,000 crates of eggs a day. The hatchery also produces 80,000 day-old chicks and 5,000 guinea fowls per day. Besides this, it produces 100 tons of poultry feed a day. Apart from Ghana, products of Akate Farms are sold in Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin. Deputy Minister The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Ms Hannah Bissiw, said the poultry industry was being revived under President Mahama. Today, she said, the laws on importation of poultry products had been reviewed, which had resulted in a drop in import figures. Ms Bissiw said some financial institutions were supporting the broiler project initiated by the government to help increase local production, with the first batch of 20 farmers ready to receive their financial support in the next two weeks. She said under the project, before one would be given the licence to import frozen poultry products, one must show evidence that the quantity he or she wanted to import could not be obtained in Ghana at that particular moment. Again, an importer of frozen poultry products must procure 40 per cent of the quantity he was importing locally before given the licence to import. CEO of Akate Farms The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Akate Farms, Alhaji Abdul Salam Akate, was highly appreciative of the visit of the President and said it demonstrated his commitment to the development of the poultry industry. The National President of the Ghana Poultry Farmers Association, Mr Kwadwo Asante, said the commitment of the President to the poultry industry was real and urged him to continue to do his best for the industry.