Ghanaian poultry sector pushes for import reduction
In 2011 70,000 tons of US chicken alone was imported into Ghana, much to the dismay of local poultry farmers, who have repeatedly made their feelings known to Ghanaian governments both past and present.
In 2010, the US, EU and Brazil together were said to have exported over 200,000 tons of frozen chicken to Ghana, valued at $200 million.
During a debate in Accra on the topic “Is Importing Chicken Good for Ghana?” held in August 2011, farmers blamed the government for letting the poultry industry down.
They argued that the country seems to be clueless about how to save the industry. Governments keep repeating policies on poultry whenever a national budget is read, making promises to help farmers to acquire equipment and increase taxes on imported chicken. Farmers cited a budget statement which indicated that the government would help poultry farmers to increase production to meet the domestic demand by the year 2012.
There was even a time that parliament passed a law to increase taxes on the imports of frozen chicken but the law was never implemented due to pressures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In an effort to gain more insight into the industry and in turn reduce the amount of poultry imports, Ghana’s Trade Minister, Ms Hannah Tetteh requested that a Ghanaian team be allowed to travel to the United States to study’s their poultry industry.
The team is hosted here in Atlanta, Georgia by the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC).
