Accra, July 29, GNA – The first batch of broiler poultry under the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) is ready for processing into whole chicken and cut parts for packaging and marketing.
A news brief from the FSRP said the first batch had reached the maturity age of seven weeks, with an average live weight of between 2.9 and 3 kilogrammes (kg).
It noted that, for fast-food restaurants their markets demanded dressed chicken between the weights of 1.1 and 1.3 kg, which was generally obtained between four and five weeks old, with an average live weight of 1.7 and 2.0 kg.
The brief said consumers could obtain the home-grown, hygienically processed, fresh and nutritious broiler chicken in malls, restaurants and processing facilities in parts of the country.
The programme, being run under the ‘FSRP Poultry Intensification Scheme’, commenced in June this year under the auspices of MOFA.
An FSRP Monitoring team made up of officials of the Animal Production Directorate (APD), the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) and the FSRP, visited the poultry farms and processing facilities in the Ashanti Region to ascertain adherence to laid down industrial standards like feed quality, vaccinations, bio-security requirements, the required weights and general healthcare of the birds.
The facilities are at Rockland Farms, producers of Akoko Tasty Chicken, Asamoah and Yamoah Farms, producers of Gold Birds, Darko Farms, producers of Darko Farms Chicken, and Boris B Farms, producers of Boris B Chicken.
At Rockland Farms, FSRP and MOFA officials witnessed semi-automated processing methods, whilst Darko Farms and Asamoah & Yamoah Farms took FSRP officials through their fully automated processing methods, including slaughtering, dressing, cutting into parts, packaging, blast freezing and transportation.
The brief said the ongoing FSRP Poultry Intensification Scheme had also been rolled out in the Eastern Region with Fredna Farms, in the Central Region with Judahson Farms, and in the Greater Accra Region with Pap Farms, while anchor farmers in the Bono and other regions would be rolled onto the scheme next month.
Mr Osei Owusu Agyeman, Project Coordinator, FSRP, who was part of the monitoring team, told the Ghana News Agency that je was happy the private sector had taken up and owned the project.
He observed that it was reviving collapsed poultry farms and said measures were being taken to strengthen the value chain actors to ensure sustainability and leverage opportunities in West African trade.
Dr. Abdul Razak Okine, Deputy Director, Animal Production Directorate MoFA, also a monitoring team member, said the prospects looked good, saying: “With this result (marketing weight), we can compete with any country in the world.”
He expressed joy that a lot more youth and women were participating in the project and said what was needed was consistent support.
The MOFA-FSRP Poultry Intensification Scheme is being run in phases under the World Bank funding, with each beneficiary receiving input credit in the form of 160,000 day-old chicks, 4.5 kilogrammes of feed per bird, as well as supplies of vaccines.
They would also be trained in best modern practices and climate-smart technologies within the poultry industry and be able to access matching grants to procure equipment to support post-production processing and cold storage.
The scheme targets the production of approximately two million broiler birds on a yearly basis, under a $12.5m World Bank facility.
Under the scheme, 18 commercial anchor farmers and their outgrowers nationwide are being supported to produce, process and market two million birds annually over the next three years.
The FSRP is promoted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for participating countries.
It aims to strengthen food system risk management, improve the sustainability of the agricultural productive base and harmonise agricultural markets in the West African sub region.
Participating countries include Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
In Ghana, FSRP is focusing on the intensified production, marketing and consumption of wholesome rice, maize, broiler poultry, soya beans and tomatoes.
GNA