Poultry farmers in the country say the government should guarantee and protect at least 20 per cent of the market for them.

Chairman of the Poultry Farmers Association Mr Victor Oppong told Paa Kwesi Asare on Business Focus on Starr FM on Tuesday that if given the chance, local poultry farmers can “do a lot.”

Mr Oppong said Ghana could follow the example of Nigeria, which has placed a total ban on the importation of poultry, and by so doing, encouraged local farmers to produce more to meet the poultry needs of the country’s 170 million people.

Mr Oppong said Ghanaian poultry farmers could prove their mettle if about 20 per cent of the market is protected for them exclusively.

Currently, local poultry farmers are able to produce just about five per cent of the country’s poultry needs.

He put the situation down to Ghanaians’ preference for foreign poultry products over local ones, as well as the cost- intensive nature of poultry farming.

For example, he said, agricultural products such as maize and soya, which constitute about 85 per cent of poultry feed, are subsidised in western countries, unlike the situation in Ghana where farmers receive no support in producing such grains.

He also said as a result of agricultural mechanisation, farmers in western countries are able to produce about 10 or 12 tonnes of maize from an acre of land as compared to the three tonnes produced by Ghanaian farmers per acre of land due to the lack of mechanised agriculture.

Mr Oppong said local farmers are not asking for a total ban on importation of foreign poultry, but just want a little protection and support so as to produce more.