Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has described the government’s flagship Nkoko Nkitinkiti poultry initiative as a failure, citing reports that some beneficiaries have slaughtered and consumed birds distributed to them for rearing.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Probe on Sunday, August 23, Mr Afenyo-Markin claimed that the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, had acknowledged that the programme was facing challenges after admitting that some beneficiaries had consumed the birds.

“On the agriculture side, government has failed,” the Effutu MP claimed.

He said the initiative was introduced to equip young Ghanaians with the means to venture into poultry farming and create sustainable livelihoods, but alleged that some beneficiaries had instead resorted to consuming the birds.

“They promised to introduce Ghanaian youth to poultry entrepreneurship, and they call it Nkoko Nkitinkiti. The minister himself, before the Government Assurance Committee, conceded the failure in the policy. And he said, ‘his own people who benefited have been sending videos of them killing the birds, cooking them and eating them’. So, in the end, that policy that was to create wealth, create opportunities, has become consumption, not investment,” he claimed.

According to Mr Afenyo-Markin, the reported consumption of the birds defeats the core objective of the initiative, which was to promote poultry production, create jobs and establish sustainable sources of income for beneficiaries.

“He [Eric Opoku] conceded a failure in the policy,” he added.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), ahead of the 2024 general election, promised to revive Ghana’s struggling poultry industry by incentivising farmers, promoting local consumption and introducing a “Poultry Farm to Table” project in collaboration with poultry farmers’ associations.

After assuming office, the government incorporated its poultry intervention into the broader Feed Ghana Programme, with the Nkoko Nkitinkiti Household and Backyard Poultry Production Initiative becoming one of its key components.

President John Dramani Mahama formally launched the initiative in Kumasi in November 2025. The government said the programme was designed to promote poultry production at the household, school and community levels, while improving food security, creating livelihoods and reducing Ghana’s dependence on imported poultry products.

Under the first phase, beneficiaries were to receive 50 chicks, feed support and technical guidance to help them establish sustainable poultry ventures.

The government subsequently announced an expansion of the programme, targeting the production and distribution of seven million birds in 2026. Beneficiaries, including households and commercial poultry farmers, were also expected to undergo training and capacity-building before receiving the birds.

However, the implementation of the broader poultry revitalisation programme has come under criticism.

A July 2026 assessment by The Fourth Estate reported concerns from poultry industry stakeholders that, although the backyard component had reached some beneficiaries, other elements of the wider poultry revitalisation programme had fallen behind their implementation timelines.

Mr Afenyo-Markin maintains that reports of beneficiaries consuming birds intended for production raise questions about the sustainability and effectiveness of the government’s intervention.