The Dormaa Poultry Farmers Association, in the Brong Ahafo, has asked the government to pass a hatchery law to protect the local poultry industry.
According to the farmers, the absence of hatchery law has adversely affected the growth of the poultry industry.
Speaking at a press conference, they also called for the removal of the 15 percent import tax on the importation of day-old chicks into the country.
They said local hatchery companies should also improve the quality of the service they offer, in order to sustain in the poultry business.
Adding that there is a high risk associated with the local hatchery hence their dependency on the imported ones.
The chairman for Dormaa Poultry Farmers Association, Mr. Dei Kusi, said there should be a rebate on the imported day-old chicks since the high mortality rate associated with the local hatchery may not enable them to sustain their business.
Poultry farmers, in recent times, have mounted pressure on successive governments to halt the importation of imported poultry products into the country.
As a result of their numerous stakeholders’ engagement, the government came out with a policy to cut down the huge importation of poultry products, thus the introduction of the 15 percent on the importation of day-old chicks.
The move by the government was to strengthen the local producers to compete favorably with their competitors from neighboring and other countries. But few years after the introduction of the tax, poultry farmers are asking the government to scrap it off.
Ghana’s domestic supply of poultry is just about 10 percent, whilst the remaining 90 percent being imported to complement local production, a situation which is very worryingly.
In 2014, the government launched a Broiler Revitalization Programme with the objective of reducing the import bill to 40 percent but failed to achieve that. The Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, at the time, recommended the Boris B’s Farms and Veterinary Supplies Ghana Limited to be the lead supplier for the project.
The Company was later contracted to supply broiler to local poultry farmers but the GHȼ10 million of its funds – meant for actual production of broilers (day-old chicks, animal feed, veterinary drugs/vaccines and processing charges) has since been locked up.
This according to Mr. Dei Kusi is affecting the poultry production particularly farmers, especially those in the Brong Ahafo region.
