Victor Oppong Adjei, president of the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF), has stated that even if there would be an excess of poultry for the Christmas and New Year celebrations, consumers will still have to pay more than they did for the same poultry the previous year.
He offered this assertion to the Business and Finacial Time (B&FT) in a new interview, claiming that whereas they were offered for sale at GH40 the previous year, layer birds are now going for GH70.
Depending on weight and size, broilers currently sell for between GH120 and GH150, up from last year’s price of GH80. He told B&FT that this change resulted from farmers having to pay more than three times the previous price for farm supplies, particularly for feed, over time.
Speaking further, he said throughout the years, farmers had been forced to pay more than three times the previous price for farm inputs, particularly for feed, which is why this development has occurred.
“We have enough birds to sell this Christmas. Some farmers are raising broilers to meet the demand. So the chicken will not be the problem – except that the price will be a bit higher because of the input prices which have gone up.
We were buying a tonne of feed for GH¢1,500; and as we speak now, it has shot up to over GH¢6,000. So, the way that input prices have gone up, it has affected everything; so we have agreed to adjust the prices,” he said.