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The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has registered 350 poultry farmers for the implementation of a special broiler pilot project under the Rearing for Food and Jobs (RfFJs) programme.

Each of the farmers, selected from the Ashanti, Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions has been given 2000 broiler day old chicks and they would be supported with the necessary incentives regarding feeding and vaccination to produce the broilers.

Additional 150 farmers are in the Greater Accra Region as part of the first phase of the project, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister of Food and Agriculture said when he interacted with a number of poultry farmers during a day’s working visit recently at Dormaa-Ahenkro in the Dormaa Central Municipality of Bono Region.

He said under the project, the Ministry took stock of all depleted/defunct poultry farms in the regions and their respective capacities to roll out a programme to systematically address fundamentals and challenges facing the poultry sector.

There is another plan by government to ensure that after production, the birds would be slaughtered for the market, Dr Akoto said and stressed that government was determined to scale up the process, depending on how successful the first phase would become.

In a welcoming address, Mr. Drissa Ouattara, the Municipal Chief Executive appealed for the speedy completion of a 1,000 metric ton capacity warehouse being constructed at Atesikrom in the Municipality under the One-District, One-Warehouse programme.

This he explained was because a warehouse served as an essential facility to promote food security, in addition to giving impetus to the success stories of the of Planting for Food and Jobs and One-District, One Factory (1D1F) programmes in the Municipality.

Mr. Dei Kusi, the Chairman of Poultry Farmers Association at Dormaa-Ahenkro appealed for the MoFA to expedite work on the construction of a broiler processing plant under the 1D1F programme in the Dormaa East District to create employment for the youth and also a market avenue for the poultry farmers.