By: Edith Mborate, Sunyani.
Members of the Sunyani Municipal Poultry Farmers Association have called on the government, the Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders to come to their aid by subsidising the price of imported maize to help keep them in business.
According to them, huge increases in the price of Maize, Soya Beans and Wheat bran is forcing them out of Business as many Poultry Farmers cannot afford to feed their birds.
Speaking with GBC NEWS, the farmers said, while the cost of production has increased by 300 percent, prices of eggs have not seen any reasonable increase.
GBC’s Edith Mborate reports that the poultry industry globally continues to contribute to the world economy in various ways.
In developed economies, it enhances their GDP profiles and provides high revenue from exports. In developing economies, it provides a source of livelihood and protein for food.
In Ghana in recent times the high cost of production is affecting Poultry Farmers mainly due to a shortfall in production, which has fueled an astronomical increase in the price of maize.
Meanwhile, Maize constitutes a significant portion of poultry feed. In an interview with GBC News, a poultry farmer, Beatrice Asamoah Antwi, lamented that she has never experienced such a dire situation in her 25 years as a Poultry Farmer.
Dr. Paul Nsiah, who is also a Poultry Farmer, bemoaned the rate at which the cost of feed is increasing and disclosed that the cost of preparing a ton of poultry feed is now more than GHS3,000 as compared to the same period in 2020, when it was just a little more than GHS1,000.
Chairman of the Sunyani Municipal Poultry Farmers Association, Charles Korang appealed to the public, “to bear with them when they increase the prices of eggs’’.
Speaking on behalf of the Association the Organizer, Johnson Yeboah revealed that the plight of their members is becoming unbearable. He appealed to the Government and other stakeholders to go to their aid.
A visit to the Maize Market at Odumase in Sunyani West revealed that whilst some maize is available, the price has shot up considerably. A bag of maize which normally sells for GHC 120 is now GHS 400.