The government has rolled out a strategy to reduce importation and make the country poultry-sufficient in the next four years, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Livestock, Moham­med Hardi Tufeiru, has stated.

He said as part of the strategy under the Planting for Food and Jobs Phase II, the government had offered to assist the youth and individuals who want to venture into poultry with birds and inputs for free.

Mr Tufeiru stated this during the Ghana Poultry Day pro­gramme in Accra yesterday and said the move was to increase the local production of poultry from the current figure of 60,000 metric tonnes to 400,000 metric tonnes within the next four years to reduce the importation of poul­try products into the country.

The programme, organised by the Agrihouse Foundation, a non-governmental organisation in partnership with the Ghana Tour­ism Authority and the World Ini­tiative for Soy in Human Health, was on the theme “Celebrating Diversity in Poultry: Roast, Taste and Nourish the Nation”.

Marked at the forecourt of the State House to highlight the nutritional benefits of local poultry and the opportunities that exist in the poultry industry, the programme was interspersed with cooking competition among 47 chefs, including Chef Failatu Abdul-Razak who attempted the longest cooking marathon, the President of Ghana Independent Broadcaster Association, Cecil T. Sunkwa-Mills, poultry product ex­hibition, Townhall Meeting, Senior High School Dialogue on Poultry and Tradition Leadership Talk on Poultry.

Mr Tufeiru, the Deputy Minister who delivered the keynote address, said there were a lot of opportuni­ties in the poultry industry and the sector held the key to addressing unemployment in the country.

He said though the country’s annual poultry needs stood at 400,000 metric tonnes, the country could produce only 69,000 metric tonnes and had to import to meet the shortfall.

Mr Tufeiru, therefore, urged the youth to venture into poultry since there were a lot of opportunities in the sector.

The Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Alber­ta Nana Akyaa Akosa, in her remarks, called for closer collab­oration between the public and private sectors to promote the local poultry industry.

She said closer collaboration be­tween the government and private sector could help boost local pro­duction of poultry to reduce the importation of poultry products in the country.

Ms Akosa said the Ghana Poul­try Day programme was initiated and started four years ago by her outfit to project the opportunities that existed in the poultry sector.

She appealed to the government to adopt July 1 as a National Poul­try Day to highlight the opportu­nities and challenges in the poultry industry.