An agripreneur in the Asene Manso Akroso District of the Eastern Region, Edward Ansah, has appealed to the government to establish a poultry processing plant in the district to address marketing challenges facing local poultry farmers.

He said the facility would provide a ready market for farmers, improve the poultry value chain, and make poultry farming more attractive to the youth.

Mr Ansah, a beneficiary of the Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative through the Asene Manso Agric Department of the District Assembly, is currently brooding 15,000 birds under intensive management at G.F. Farms at Manso.

He was selected for the initiative due to his continued efforts in crop production and his ability to produce poultry feed from farm produce.

Speaking to the media at Manso, Mr Ansah identified marketing as one of the major challenges confronting poultry farmers in the district.

He said consumers often preferred processed poultry meat from cold stores to live birds, making it difficult for farmers to sell their produce.

“Marketing is difficult because consumers prefer the already prepared meat at the cold stores to the live chickens,” he said.

Mr Ansah, therefore, called on the government to provide the district with a poultry processing and distribution facility to create a sustainable market for locally produced poultry.

According to him, the facility would also encourage more young people to venture into poultry farming and help address unemployment in the area.

Mr Ansah said investment in poultry processing should be prioritised alongside initiatives aimed at increasing local poultry production to help reduce the country’s high broiler import bill.

“The processing plant should be the major matching investment to recommend for the Government to sustain the Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative,” he said.

He expressed appreciation to the government for supporting poultry farmers through the Poultry Intensification Scheme and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture under the Feed Ghana Programme and the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme.

He said the support, including grants for the procurement of equipment, feed, vaccines, and certified seeds, as well as technical training through seminars and workshops, had helped improve farmers’ operations.

Mr Ansah, however, appealed to the government to ensure the timely payment of grants to enable beneficiaries to plan effectively and sustain their farming activities.

He added that establishing a poultry processing facility in the district would complement existing government interventions and strengthen the poultry value chain from production through to processing and distribution.