Agric Minister Urges Nkoko Nkitinkiti Beneficiaries to Sell Birds, Not Eat Them All
- Food and Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku urged Nkoko Nkitinkiti beneficiaries to treat the initiative as a business venture
- Opoku said beneficiaries should sell most of their birds to generate income and grow Ghana's poultry sector, rather than consume them all
- The government has begun constructing a poultry processing centre in Bechem to provide a ready market for farmers under the initiative
The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has urged beneficiaries of the government's Nkoko Nkitinkiti backyard poultry initiative to approach the programme with a commercial mindset, prioritising the sale of birds over household consumption.
Opoku made the remarks on Friday, July 17, during a discussion on The Future of Poultry Beyond Nkoko Nkitinkiti on Joy FM, where he laid out the government's broader vision for the initiative and the challenges still facing the local poultry sector.
Source: Getty Images
The minister acknowledged that some domestic use of the birds is inevitable, but cautioned against consuming the entire stock.
He framed the initiative as a foundation for building sustainable poultry enterprises rather than a food relief programme.
"You have been given the birds, and you are a human being, so you cannot leave them there and go to the market to buy chicken. Eat some, but don't consume everything. See it as a business and as seed that can help you expand your poultry enterprise. In any case, what are birds raised for? Are they clocks to be fixed on the wall for people to look at?"
Opoku stressed that the core objective of the Nkoko Nkitinkiti project is to boost local poultry production and reinforce the entire value chain, from farming through to processing and distribution.
Processing Centre to Address Market Access
The minister identified access to reliable markets as the single greatest obstacle facing poultry farmers, noting that value addition is critical to transforming the sector into a competitive industry.
To tackle this, the government has begun constructing the Nkoko Nkitinkiti Poultry Processing Centre in Bechem.
The facility is designed to give farmers a guaranteed outlet for their birds, support value-addition activities, and improve the overall competitiveness of Ghana's domestic poultry industry.
Opoku's comments reflect the administration's wider ambition under the Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative to cut Ghana's reliance on imported poultry products.
Source: YEN.com.gh
