A high-powered delegation from the Moroccan Poultry Federation on Monday met members of the Ghana National Poultry Farmers Association and the Minister of Food and Agriculture to discuss how the country can partner Ghana to improve poultry production to create jobs.
The Moroccans were invited by the government to partner Ghanaian poultry farmers or even directly invest in the poultry industry to help reduce the huge dependence on imported poultry.
Currently, local production of poultry is just 5% of the growing demand for poultry while the remaining 95% is imported from Brazil, USA and Europe.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said that the government is determined to revive the dying poultry industry in Ghana and therefore sees this partnership as a huge step in bringing life back to the industry.
He said the government is prepared to give assistance to the Moroccans to help revive the industry and produce largely for local consumption.
The National Chairman of the Ghana National Poultry Farmers Association, Victor Oppong Adjei, said the move is laudable since the poultry industry is facing a lot challenges in the area of finance, modern machinery and feed for the birds.
According to him, the nation imported $1.3 billion worth of poultry last year and that the target is to produce enough for the Ghanaian market, adding that the local breed of poultry are more nutritious than the foreign ones.
He said the Moroccans would bring their technical know-how and financing to help produce ‘fresh, tasty, and healthy’ chicken to meet the expectations of Ghanaians.
The leader of the Moroccan delegation and president of the Moroccan Poultry Federation, Youssef Alaoui, was happy about the prospects and expressed readiness to partner their Ghanaian counterparts to improve poultry production in the country.
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