At a poultry round‑table in Accra on 26 October, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture John Dumelo blamed middlemen for the steep rise in local chicken prices, saying farmers could sell their birds for about GH¢80 but the price could reach GH¢200 by the time it reached consumers. He warned that the cost hike was making imported chicken more affordable and undermining efforts to promote local poultry consumption.
In response, the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association (GAPFA) disputed the minister’s claim, pointing to a lack of processing plants as the main driver of higher costs. Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Ali called on the government to establish more processing facilities to reduce costs and improve competitiveness against imports.
Ali explained that consumers often need only specific portions of a bird—breasts, thighs, wings—rather than a whole chicken, and that the absence of local processing options forces them to purchase entire birds, driving up prices. He also questioned the location of the new poultry processing plant in Bechem, noting its distance from southern Ghana farms could add transportation costs and further inflate prices for farmers across nine regions.
Other poultry traders echoed the call for increased local production and better marketing. Robert Ayamdo urged more production and advertising to shift consumer preference toward Ghanaian chicken, while Wilbert Anala noted that despite higher prices, some consumers still buy local poultry, selling layers for GH¢170 and other birds for GH¢150.
The Association maintains that expanding local processing capacity is essential to improve access to locally produced chicken, reduce costs, and make the industry more competitive against imports.
