The Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association (GHAPFA) has organized an intensive training on the topic; “New and Effective Ways of Poultry Management” for its members.
The president for GHAPFA, Mr. Michael Nyarko-Ampem said the reason for assembling the members is to address some challenges faced by the members as well as introduce them to the new trends in poultry farming as part of measures to sustain their business and also boost their income.
According to him, there are new trends in poultry farming that must be highlighted to equip farmers in the industry.
“Some time back laying was around 25 weeks but now I am sure most of us who do the layers can see them lay around latest 16 to 18 weeks but it is not them just laying eggs, they need to be efficient, the spacing for the birds, the type of coop you construct and how the eggs are even kept” he noted.
Mr. Nyarko-Ampem said one of the challenges confronting the poultry industry is high cost of feed.
He warned that the industry could face a collapse if measures are not put in place to solve the challenges.
“We try to sustain the industry and make sure our members do well in their business so we don’t really have any margin on the feed margin” he noted.
Speaking at the training, Head of Accra Veterinary Laboratory, Dr. Theophilus Odoom admonished the farmers to see poultry farming as business and not a hobby since it is capital intensive.
“Poultry is a business, everything that goes into it is business so we shouldn’t see it as a hobby but we should see it as a business so that we bring it into account every single input” he said.
He urged members of the association to take up the challenge and build a proper value chain system to aid them meet the demand of the consumers to prevent the import of eggs into the country.
“Poultry farmers should take up the challenge and build a proper value chain system which will help them catch up with the market and also meet the demand of the consumers in the country”
