Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mohammed Hardi Tuferiru, has launched ‘National Livestock Day’, a celebration promoting the country’s livestock industry and its significant contributions to food security and economic growth.
Organised by Ghana National Association of Cattle Farmers (GNACAF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Ministry of National Security, it was launched at the MoFA Project Office in Accra.
The Deputy Minister emphasised the livestock industry’s critical role in Ghana’s economy, noting that it plays a vital role in the livelihoods of many – especially in rural areas. He highlighted the importance of supporting locally produced meat and promoting the livestock industry’s development.
National Livestock Day will be celebrated on October 3-4 this year at Efua Sutherland Park in Accra. The event will feature a showcase of diverse ruminant livestock breeds as well as a heavy discount on meat products for the general public.
Indeed, National Livestock Day aims at bringing together stakeholders from across the sector to promote the domestic livestock industry’s growth and development. The theme of National Livestock Day is ‘A thriving livestock industry toward sustainable food security and economic growth’.
Alhaji Mohammed Hardi Tuferiru highlighted government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for the livestock industry – including initiatives to promote semi-intensive and intensive livestock farming systems, knowledge-sharing and addressing challenges such as conflicts between livestock herders and crop farmers.
This can be exemplified by Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ), which is one of the modules in government’s flagship agricultural programme christened Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ). RFJ is a five-year programme running from 2019 to 2023.
In launching the programme, it was recalled that president had bemoaned the steep decline of Ghana’s livestock sector – which has been largely attributed to high cost of production and competition from cheap imports of livestock and their products, forcing most livestock producers to stop producing meat and concentrate solely on crop production.
Ghana imports roughly US$400million worth of meat products annually, with local meat production accounting for only 19% of the country’s meat requirements. Hence need for the Rearing for Food and Jobs campaign.
