Accra, June 28, GNA – The American Soybean Association (ASA) through the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) Program, has partnered with Agrihouse Foundation to organise the 4th edition of the Ghana Poultry Day, scheduled to be held on Monday, July 1, 2024, at the forecourt of the State House.
The annual advocacy event, which is pushing for the recognition and celebration of July 1, as Ghana Poultry Day, is also intentionally putting to light the market opportunities, trade and investment components, as well as the nutritional values in patronising and consuming Ghana’s poultry.
Mr Chris Slemp, Africa Director, ASA-WISHH Program, in a statement, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, “Our partnership with Agrihouse Foundation for the 4th Ghana Poultry Day aligns perfectly with our mission to improve food security.”
“The WISHH program has a crucial mission to improve nutrition, through the continuous promotion of soy in human health and Poultry as a key source of protein,” he added.
Mr Slemp remarked that, in 2019, Ghana was recognised as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, but inefficiencies in the poultry value chain had hindered sector growth and protein production.
He noted that poultry and egg producers in the country continuously faced challenges such as high production costs, limited access to quality feed, and widespread misconceptions about poultry products.
“By our partnership with Agrihouse Foundation, we aim to contribute to education, and knowledge sharing and offer practical approaches and success modules, that stakeholders and potential investors could consider and adopt, to improve their poultry business, enhance the quality and accessibility of poultry feed for producers, strengthen market connections for locally produced commodities used in feed and poultry production, and enhance poultry quality to meet Ghana’s protein needs,” Mr Slemp said.
Ms Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, expressed profound gratitude to the ASA-WISHH Program for sponsoring this year’s 4th Ghana Poultry Day.
She said: “We are excited to have the American Soybean Association (ASA) World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) on board as a key partner for the organisation of the 4th Ghana Poultry Day. WISHH’s expertise and commitment to improving the poultry sector and ultimately ensuring food security is invaluable.”
Ms Akosa noted that the Foundation’s utmost desire was to advocate, empower, build capacity and share in-depth knowledge on how the nation could develop, build and sustain a strong poultry sector, with all value chains and players being vibrant and active, adding that, “having this strong support from WISHH is very instrumental in helping us achieve this aim.”
“We remain confident, that together, we can collectively inspire and build a greater appreciation, value, positive outlook, visibility, acceptance and increase in consumption and patronage of our poultry,” Ms Akosa said.
The Ghana Poultry Day will feature a dynamic programme of activities headlined by a personality-advocate chef cooking competition.
About 20 chefs, including Members of Parliament, Queen-mothers, women farmers, students and media personalities will be cooking different recipes, with chicken, free for the public to sample.
The event will also host insightful town hall discussions, bringing together industry leaders to explore opportunities in the poultry sector and discuss strategies for driving investment in the poultry value chain.
There will be an exhibition, where stakeholders across the value chain and other industries will come together to showcase their products and services, forging new partnerships and driving economic growth.
The full-day event is open to the public.
Other partners on board supporting and advocating the declaration of July 1st as the Ghana Poultry Day include, the Ghana Tourism Authority, Ghana National Egg Secretariat, Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, Amass Farms, and Labianca Company Limited.
Others are Safaree Tissue, Wilmar International, Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending Project, Wilmar International, September Spices, Maphlix Trust Ghana Limited, and Agrogenics.
GNA