Guinea fowl subsector needs targeted policies – Professor Iddriss

Professor Abdul-Rahman Ibn Iddriss, the Dean, School of Veterinary Sciences, University for Development Studies (UDS), Nyankpala Campus, has called for targeted policy interventions to transform the country’s guinea fowl subsector, to enhance food security, improve livelihoods and reduce poverty.

He said despite several past initiatives aimed at promoting guinea fowl production, the subsector continued to underperform because of persistent structural and technical challenges.

Professor Ibn Iddriss made the call at the 23rd inaugural Professorial Lecture at the UDS in Tamale, as part of requirements for his full professorial status.

The lecture, titled: “Nature’s Neglected Gift: Reproductive Insights into the Guinea Fowl and the Quest to Feed Africa,” attracted religious and traditional authorities, government officials, security agencies, students and other stakeholders.

Professor Ibn Iddriss mentioned that interventions such as the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) Guinea Fowl Initiative, the Northern Rural Growth Programme, the One-District One-Factory Initiative, the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme, and the German Development Agency Guinea Fowl Initiative, had not achieved the desired impact.

He attributed this to factors including high keet mortality, use of unimproved breeds, limited access to quality feed, and poor management practices.

He indicated that addressing these challenges through well-structured policies would unlock the subsector’s potential to contribute to reducing Protein-Energy Malnutrition, boosting economic growth, and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Professor Ibn Iddriss called for increased government investment in research and development to improve local guinea fowl strains, establish feeding standards, develop vaccination schedules specific to guinea fowls, and break their seasonal breeding cycle.

He emphasised the need for effective operationalisation of the country’s national research fund to support local innovations rather than relying heavily on external funding sources with competing interests.

He also proposed the establishment of specialised brooding units responsible for hatching and supplying hardy grower keets to farmers instead of day-old keets that were highly vulnerable.

He said improving farmer knowledge on disease prevention and management would also help reduce mortality rates.

Prof Ibn Iddriss highlighted inadequate access to veterinary services as a major constraint, especially in rural and hard-to-reach communities.

He called for increased deployment of veterinary professionals and the training of more veterinary doctors particularly in northern Ghana to bridge the animal healthcare gap.

He criticised the practice of treating commercial and smallholder guinea fowl farmers as a homogeneous group and urged the government to develop a policy framework that distinguished between the two, to allow for tailored support systems that reflected their unique needs and production scales.

He called for strengthening veterinary extension services by building the capacity of agricultural extension agents, to provide practical training in improved husbandry practices and disease control.

Prof Ibn Iddriss also called for the adoption of the Triple Helix model to strengthen collaboration between academia, industry players, farmers, and policymakers.

He stated that improving technology transfer systems within academic and research institutions would ensure that innovations were effectively applied rather than remaining unused.