Ghana Meat Deficit Hits 70 %

By Emmanuel Kubi
DAILY GUIDE: Sept. 23, 2010

ERNEST Yeboah Darkwah, Assistant Farm Manager of the Nungua Livestock Breeding Station (LBS) in Accra has stated that the lack of agricultural insurance, higher lending rates from banks and the inflow of cheaper meat products from abroad have been the main cause of Ghana’s inability to meet her meat requirements.
According to him, indigenous Ghanaian farmers are able to produce only about 30 percent of the nation’s total meat demand leaving a 70 per cent deficit due to the lack of fertile ground for them to operate. “It’s about time we see actual insurance companies reaching out to our farmers, ready to augment their businesses when there is a disaster. That way the financiers would become more confident in supporting these farmers to do better.”
Mr. Darkwah disclosed this in an interview with DAILY GUIDE in Accra Monday saying the disparity was due to the lack of confidence by financial institutions with regards to financing local farmers to invest heavily in their agro projects as a business that would enable them meet the demand targets.
On the livestock breeding station which was established in 1938, he said their main mandate was to “breed the large white pigs, domesticate grass cutters, rabbits and poultry and supply these breeding stocks to farmers who would then multiply them.”
He said free training farmers would “take them through best practices that would help them not to cheaply lose their supply stock to preventable diseases, help ensure food security and reduce poverty in the country.”
Darkwah said piggeries have proven over the years to be very profitable because the animals’ ability to withstand diseases (hardy), thereby cutting down on vaccination cost when modern best practices are followed.
According to him, the general overhead cost of pig production is also low and the availability of the markets contributes to its profitability.
The Nungua Livestock Breeding Station has a very good breeding capacity and is “currently supplying not less than 1000 piglets per annum to other smallholder livestock farms across the country,” he said.
He said compared to ruminants which produce red meat, pigs produce white meat which is medically proven to be good for the human body.
“Even the fat in pork is better than that of beef and mutton,” he added. Pigs are also an efficient converter of feed to meat which is also a very good source of protein and energy for the body.
Mr. Darkwah also noted that poor operation of the value chain system in Ghana is not helping most farmers and consumers.
He therefore emphasized on the need to create an efficient and sustainable value chain system that takes care of everyone within it.
Mr. Darkwah lamented over the poor performance of the poultry industry in Ghana due to unfavorable and unfair competition from foreign imports. “Currently most poultry farmers either produce to meet occasions like Christmas or start layer farms, producing eggs because broilers and cockerels are no longer favoring them.”
He said the due the aforementioned problems, LBS is producing over 30,000 cockerels under a government subsidy for local farmers which they keep under less intensive feeding.
Other livestock stations around the country include Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo region, Ejura in Ashanti region, Amrahia in Greater Accra, Babile in the Upper West region and Pong Tamale in the Northern region. They are all charged with the same responsibility of providing stock breeds for smallholder farmers.