The Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Mr Blay Armah Nyameke, has challenged beneficiaries of the government’s poultry support programme to move beyond individual farming and build strong cooperatives capable of turning poultry production into sustainable businesses.
He said the distribution of 9,000 birds to poultry farmers and residents in the constituency was intended to create economic opportunities, improve household incomes and strengthen Ghana’s capacity to produce its own poultry.
Speaking at a distribution ceremony at the Youth Centre in Sekondi, Mr Nyameke urged beneficiaries to take proper care of the birds and work together to expand their operations.
He said beneficiaries could achieve greater economies of scale by forming cooperatives, pooling resources and sharing knowledge and markets.
According to him, the government’s poultry intervention was also aimed at reducing Ghana’s heavy reliance on imported chicken and retaining more foreign exchange within the local economy.
Mr Nyameke cited an estimated GH¢2.84 billion spent on frozen chicken imports in 2025, describing the figure as a clear indication of the need to strengthen domestic poultry production.
He encouraged constituents, irrespective of their political affiliation, to take advantage of government programmes designed to improve livelihoods, create jobs and promote local enterprise.
Mr Harvey Smith Annobil of the Department of Agriculture at the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly urged the beneficiaries to complement the government’s intervention with sound poultry management practices.
He advised them to provide the birds with adequate feed and vitamins and ensure timely veterinary attention whenever health problems arose.
“Feed them appropriately, give them vitamins and report to the veterinary for any emergency care and advise…that way, you will have a good yield,” he said.
Some beneficiaries expressed gratitude to the government for the support, saying the initiative could provide an important source of income for households and help reduce poverty in the constituency.
The distribution forms part of the Nkoko Nkitinkiti Initiative under the Feed Ghana Programme, which seeks to provide millions of birds and feed support to households and poultry farmers across the country.
The initiative is targeting an increase in Ghana’s poultry self-sufficiency from 12 per cent to more than 75 per cent by 2028, while reducing the country’s expenditure on imported poultry products.
