President John Dramani Mahama today launched a bold initiative to revive Ghana’s poultry industry as part of his comprehensive ‘Feed Ghana Programme’, addressing the nation’s heavy reliance on imported chicken during the program’s launch in Techiman.
Expressing dismay at Ghana’s current poultry import figures, President Mahama declared: “Nana Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, Ghana imports almost 400 million dollars worth of chicken every year. This, we all must be ashamed of.”
The President outlined his administration’s ‘Nkoko Nkitinkitin’ Program (Poultry Revitalization Initiative) which will establish a complete domestic poultry value chain through: Support for hatcheries and feed mills, strengthening veterinary services, establishment of poultry processing centers, and collaboration with the Poultry Farmers Association.
Mahama revealed a concrete implementation plan featuring two complementary approaches:
1. Anchor Farmer Program: 50 commercial poultry farmers will be registered and tasked to meet a target production of 4 million birds annually (10,000 metric tons of chicken)
2. Household Poultry Initiative: 55,000 households are expected to be registered nationwide with each household expected to raise 500 birds yearly. The projected output will be ober 1 million additional birds annually.
“This will thereby improve the incomes of women and the nutrition of their children,” Mahama emphasized, highlighting the program’s dual benefits of economic empowerment and food security.
The President positioned the poultry initiative as both an economic necessity and a matter of national pride, aiming to:
1. Reverse the $400 million annual chicken import bill
2. Create sustainable livelihoods across the poultry value chain
3. Improve protein accessibility for Ghanaian families
Today’s announcement forms part of Mahama’s broader Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda (AETA), signaling a strategic shift toward domestic food production self-sufficiency. With its combination of commercial-scale and household-level interventions, the poultry revitalization program represents one of the most detailed agricultural policy blueprints presented in recent years. Watch the video here
As Ghana currently imports about 80% of its chicken consumption, the success of this initiative could dramatically alter the nation’s agricultural landscape and trade balance, while fulfilling Mahama’s campaign promise to make ‘Nkoko Nkitinkitin’ a reality for Ghanaian poultry farmers and consumers alike.