Re-stock your farms- Poultry farmers told

Inchaban (W/R) Aug. 30 -GNA-Mr. Tony Osei-Mensah, Western Regional Chairman of the Poultry Farmers Association (PFA) has called on poultry farmers who abandoned their businesses to re-stock their farms and resume work.

He said since the country did not experience any bird flu incidents, it was ideal that all those who closed down their farms should begin operations, to meet the increasing demand.

Mr. Osei-Mensah made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Inchaban near Takoradi on Wednesday. He said since Ghanaians had resumed patronising poultry products, the supply was unable to match the demand.

He said, several poultry farmers became heavily indebted to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and other creditors, while several others had to abandon their businesses when the bird flu scare was reported.

Mr. Osei-Mensah said the Micro Poultry Project (MPP) introduced by the ADB to provide soft term loans for poultry farmers was presently being re-negotiated, to enable more farmers to patronise. Mr. Osei-Mensah said the association, in collaboration with the Western Regional Task Team on the Bird Flu, would soon introduce the Egg and Chicken programme, to sensitise the public on the safety of poultry products.

He said, the regional task team had become dormant soon after the inauguration but the association would continue its public education on the nutritional benefits of poultry.

He said the poultry industry was facing severe financial problems and called for massive financial support for the sector. Mr. Osei-Mensah said the lack of a hatchery in the Western Region was a major setback to the industry since many of the farmers had to import its day old chicks from either Tema and Kumasi. He said the increasing demand for poultry products required the establishment of more feed mills in all the regional and district capitals to meet the needs of farmers.

Mr. Osei-Mensah said the Ghana Agro Food Company (GAFCO) was presently offering a 20 percent rebate for any quantity of day old chicks that a farmer buys, to motivate more farmers to venture into poultry. He however, cautioned that the continual importation of chicken parts from other parts of the country and this was making it impossible for local farmers to compete with them. Mr. Osei-Mensah said the association was ready to train and assist the youth to venture into the poultry industry. He assured Ghanaians that poultry and eggs were safe and advised them to visit the farms and make their own choices. He commended Ghanaians for patronising poultry products and asked them to encourage their relatives to eat more poultry products to help sustain the industry. 30 Aug. 06