Poultry farmers are calling on government to break its silence on the delayed rollout of the much-touted Nkoko Nkitinkiti Project, a flagship programme expected to transform Ghana’s poultry sector.
The initiative, initially scheduled to launch last month, is designed to support more than 55,000 households, create thousands of jobs for the youth, and significantly reduce Ghana’s heavy reliance on poultry imports a bill that exceeds $300 million annually.
But uncertainty now clouds its future. According to Kwame Anim Somuah, President of the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association, the delay has left farmers unable to plan effectively for production.
“It’s been touted for a long time, but from where we sit, I don’t know what is holding back the launch of the programme. What we are asking for is an update to farmer associations on the current state of the project, so we can plan accordingly,” Somuah told reporters.
He added that timelines are crucial for farm management.
“If we know it will be launched within the next month or two, farmers will be better prepared for participation and processing. For instance, if I raise my birds now, in less than two months they’ll be ready. But the question is, when they are fully matured, where do I take them?”
The government has positioned the Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative as a cornerstone of its strategy to strengthen the link between agriculture and industry. In his State of the Nation Address earlier this year, President John Dramani Mahama reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to value addition, processing, and distribution within agriculture, stressing that such interventions will make the sector “more profitable and appealing to young people.”
Alongside Nkoko Nkitinkiti, the President also promised the rollout of the AgriNext Programme, which seeks to provide young farmers with access to land banks and link graduates to opportunities across the agricultural value chain.
For now, however, industry players say they need more than promises. “The poultry sector is already burdened by high costs and cheap imports. A programme like Nkoko Nkitinkiti could be a game-changer, but farmers need clarity, not silence,” Somuah stressed.
