By Dr. Georgia
The Minister for Agriculture, Eric Opoku, says Ghana can no longer afford to keep spending hundreds of millions of dollars on imported poultry.
According to him, the country spends about $350 million every year to bring poultry products into Ghana — money that could be used to grow local farms and create jobs for Ghanaians.
Speaking on _JoyNews_ on Friday, July 17, Mr. Opoku said the continuous importation of chicken is “creating jobs in other countries at the expense and peril of the youth of our nation.”
The Plan: Nkoko Nkitinkiti
The Minister said government’s answer is the *Nkoko Nkitinkiti programme.
The goal is simple: get Ghanaians to eat more Ghanaian chicken and cut down on imports.
“The huge amount of money we spend on imports could instead be invested in strengthening the domestic poultry industry and expanding employment opportunities along the value chain,” he explained.
Mr. Opoku said the first phase of Nkoko Nkitinkiti focused on supporting households.
The next phase will target medium-scale poultry farmers— those producing between 500 to 3,000 birds — and help them scale up.
“Some of them have the capacity to grow. It is the duty of government, as we pursue increased production, to give them that support to enable them expand,” he added.
Why It Matters
The Minister stressed that boosting local production and encouraging people to buy made-in-Ghana poultry is key to building a sustainable industry.
He noted that over-reliance on imports has limited opportunities for Ghanaian farmers and young people who could be employed across the poultry value chain — from feed production to processing and marketing.
Government, he said, is committed to unlocking the full potential of the poultry sector through increased production, job creation, and value addition.
_Tags: Eric Opoku, Ministry of Agriculture, Daily Newsflash, Nkoko Nkitinkiti, Poultry_
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