Importance of Livestock Production in Ghana

Livestock production makes up a very important component of the agricultural economy in our part of the world. Its contribution is not limited just to food production but includes multipurpose uses, such as skins, fibre, fertilizer, fuel and capital accumulation, etc. Livestock also plays an important role in the social and cultural lives of millions of farmers for whom animal ownership serves as a major source of income to the farmers providing economic stability.

In Ghana, Livestock production is an important feature of the countrys agriculture and accounts for 14% of agricultural GDP.

According to the Animal Production Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the importation of meat to the country is currently over 240,000 MT which make up for the countrys meat deficit costing the country over USD375 million annually. Furthermore, the demand for poultry meat alone at the national level is about 400,000MT with local production of just about 57,871MT an indication that, imports of poultry meat is about 180,000MT with a shortfall of 162,129 MT.

It has been identified that broiler meat importation constitutes over 80% of total meat imports into the country and broiler production has also been identified as the fastest means of reducing meat imports through local production or import substitution.

As a result of the current situation of the livestock production in the country and its consequences of high import bills as indicated above, several measures have been instituted by government to revamp the livestock production sector in the country such as provision of 40% subsidy from government for broiler production and the Rearing for Food and Jobs initiative launched in 2019 for the poultry sector meant to produce 40,000MT of broiler meat a pilot basis in 2020 and scale up production in the subsequent years.

As Ghanaians with the right support and resources, it is our duty to contribute to the development of a competitive and effective livestock industry that will increase domestic production, reduce importation of livestock products and contribute to employment generation in the country to improve livelihoods and the economy.

Source:

Bagbara, T. (2019). Revamping the Poultry Sector in Ghana. Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana.

Sansoucy, R. (1997). Livestock-a Diving Force for Food Secuirty and Sustainable Development. FAO.