The Bono Poultry Farmers Association has warned that Ghana’s poultry industry is facing its worst egg glut in years, with thousands of farmers unable to sell their produce as cheaper imports from Côte d’Ivoire flood the market.
Speaking in an interview, the association’s secretary, Johnson Yeboah, said the situation is crippling businesses across the Bono Region, one of Ghana’s leading poultry hubs.
“We are throwing away eggs because the market is slow,” Mr. Yeboah said. “Farmers are running at a loss, and many cannot break even. It’s not because we are overproducing, but because the system is not managed and imported eggs are cheaper due to the exchange rate.”
According to him, the strengthening of the Ghanaian cedi against the CFA franc has made it easier and cheaper for traders to import poultry products from Côte d’Ivoire. “When the exchange rate shifts, eggs from Côte d’Ivoire become cheaper. So, traders prefer importing, and that affects our local market,” he explained.
The Bono Region, remains a cornerstone of Ghana’s poultry industry. The sector provides thousands of direct and indirect jobs across hatcheries, feed mills, transport, and retail. However, Mr. Yeboah said that without coordinated policy engagement, the value chain risks collapse.
“Poultry can create huge employment. A farmer with just 1,000can employ more than one person. But successive governments have failed to engage with us to understand our challenges,” he said.
Mr. Yeboah criticized the government’s upcoming Nkoko Nkitikiti initiative, which is expected to be launched on Wednesday under the Feed Ghana programme, saying key industry players were not consulted.
“The president said the government would engage us for successful implementation, but as we speak, no one from the Ministry has reached out,” he said. “They are distributing birds to people who are not even poultry farmers. This is a technical business. Without expertise, it could lead to disease outbreaks and more losses.”
He called for better coordination between policymakers and existing producers, especially hatcheries and large-scale farms. “We have local hatcheries, that can produce millions of chicks if given contracts. The issue is not capacity, but engagement,” he added.
The secretary also appealed for emergency support to address the ongoing egg glut, urging the government to extend its Buffer Stock market intervention to the poultry sector.
“We heard of the maize and rice glut, and government raised money for Buffer Stock to buy those items. We’re pleading with them to do the same for eggs, procure them for the school feeding and SHS programmes,” Mr. Yeboah said.
He described the poultry business as capital-intensive, noting that raising 1,000 birds can cost as much as GH¢100,000 before the first eggs are laid. “It’s not sustainable if after all that investment you can’t sell your eggs,” he warned.
Mr. Yeboah acknowledged that Ghanaian farmers still depend on Côte d’Ivoire for key inputs such as maize and soybeans, citing price instability and weak supply systems in Ghana. “Without feed imports from Côte d’Ivoire, the industry would have collapsed years ago,” he said.
Despite the current crisis, the association commended government for prioritizing poultry under the Nkuko Nkitikiti programme but insisted that the policy must be grounded in collaboration and market planning.
“We appreciate the intention behind the initiative, but implementation without consultation will fail,” Mr. Yeboah stressed. “Engage the industry players. We are ready to contribute our expertise to make it work.”
As the Nkuko Nkitikiti programme prepares for its national launch, the outcome of these stakeholder concerns will be a key test of the government’s ability to balance expansion in food production with market stability and trade competitiveness.
