Can Ghana feed itself?

That is the question policymakers, industry leaders, researchers and financiers will seek to answer this morning, when Joy Business and the Super Morning Show host a high-level thought leadership roundtable under the theme: "Can Ghana Feed Itself? The Future of Poultry Beyond Nkoko Nketenkete."

Ghana consumes an estimated 452,100 tonnes of chicken a year but produces only about 60,000 tonnes of it domestically - meaning roughly 87% of the chicken Ghanaians eat is imported. Closing that gap means raising 226 million birds a year, roughly 7.5 times today's domestic output of about 30 million birds, or less than one bird per Ghanaian raised locally today.

But can we produce enough locally to fill the shortfall? Joy Business and the Super Morning Show are bringing together the people with the answers.

The dialogue follows the Minister for Food and Agriculture's recent update to Parliament's Assurance Committee on the implementation of the Akoko Nketenkete programme and the government's announcement of its next phase.

Despite decades of policy interventions aimed at revitalising the poultry industry, Ghana still imports the vast majority of the chicken it consumes. This raises urgent questions about the country's long-term food security, import dependence and global competitiveness.

The Joy Business and Super Morning Show Roundtable will bring together key stakeholders from government, industry, finance and research to interrogate why Ghana has struggled to achieve poultry self-sufficiency and what must be done to build a resilient and globally competitive poultry industry.

The panellists include Ali Muhammed, Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Poultry Farmers Association; Dr Dan Acquaye, Chief Executive Officer of Agri-Impact Limited and Happy Project; Bright Demordzi, Feed Ghana Coordinator; Edith Akosah Wheatland, Chief Executive Officer of Rockland Farms; and Raymond Denteh, lead consultant for the development of a National Poultry Sector Master Plan, created in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, Agri-Impact Limited and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

The discussion will begin with a special Joy Research presentation tracing Ghana's poultry interventions since 1992, highlighting key policy milestones, achievements, challenges and lessons learned.

The Government's vision for the poultry sector will then be presented by the Feed Ghana Coordinator, Bright Demordzi. He will outline the objectives, implementation strategy, expected outcomes and impact framework of the programme, while providing updates on its implementation and the roadmap for its next phase.

Mr Raymond Denteh, who is an agribusiness, finance, market systems and poultry sector expert, will provide a technical assessment of the structural challenges confronting the industry. He will also explain why Ghana remains dependent on poultry imports despite years of government interventions. Finally, he will outline the reforms proposed under the emerging Master Plan to place the industry on a path to long-term competitiveness and self-sufficiency.

Viewers and listeners can expect Ali Muhammed to provide the perspective of poultry farmers on the frontlines of production. He will examine the realities of rising feed costs, access to finance, market constraints, competition from imported chicken and the practical challenges that continue to affect local producers despite successive government interventions.

Edith Akosah Wheatland, who operates across the poultry value chain as a farmer, processor, marketer and feed producer, will offer practical insights into the economics of the industry. She will assess where Ghana loses competitiveness—from feed production and bird rearing to processing and marketing—and discuss the investments and reforms needed to make locally produced chicken more competitive.

As a leading project management and agribusiness expert, Dr Dan Acquaye is expected to provide a strategic perspective on transforming Ghana's poultry industry. Leveraging his experience with the HAPPY Programme and his role as a partner in developing the National Poultry Sector Master Plan, he will discuss the institutional and policy reforms required to move Ghana from fragmented interventions to a coordinated, commercially driven poultry industry capable of delivering food security, jobs and import substitution.

The discussion will also address financing solutions for the poultry value chain.

Drawing lessons from successful poultry industries across Africa and beyond, the roundtable will assess whether the current Government poultry programme addresses the structural challenges facing the industry. It will also identify practical policy reforms needed to reduce imports, strengthen local production and improve food security.

The dialogue forms part of Joy Business and the Super Morning Show's commitment to driving evidence-based discussions on issues that shape Ghana's economy and influence public policy.