Junk foreign chicken dumped on Ghanaians - Darko Farms

Executive Officer (CEO) of Darko Farms Samuel Darko has disclosed that Ghana continues to import frozen chicken considered unwholesome consumption yet importers take delight in imposing them on the populace.

According to him, due to its expired nature, foreign chicken considered cheap is dumped on the Ghanaians who because of affordability are always in a mad rush to purchase.

Mr. Darko emphasised that the consumption of local poultry has declined because the foreign chicken consumed by Ghanaians outweighs the local chicken.

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He explained that local poultry farmers are burdened with high costs of production, compelling them to sell dressed birds at a higher cost.

‘Initially the poultry industry was mainly a laying industry but gradually we builder up to broiler production. But right now for the past five years, we have seen that there has been a decline in the consumption of local poultry all because of the importers stuff that is coming in. And that is because the imported chicken is quite cheap. I mean our cost of production here is high.

Due to various factors like feed and all those kind of things, what is coming in really is dumping of foreign chicken that is killing the poultry industry. That is how I see it. This is cheap product that has been in the fridge for some time for five, ten years, and it’s like rebranded and brought to us and we buy.

If you go to America right now, the kind of chicken that is coming in here, the price, you won’t buy that price over there. Why because what they have there is fresh. And what is being brought to us is what is been there for a while,’ he said.

Asked on Ultimate breakfast show hosted by Lantam Papanko if expired chicken are shipped off to Ghana, he said, ‘That is one of the factors as far as I know, because if something has exceeded its life span and normally you have to store the chicken not more than one year. And after one year, that is when it expires, but most of the times, some people re-package and bring to us’.