Importation of poultry products into the country has drastically reduced since government took a policy decision to cut down on poultry imports, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Hanna Louisa Abissiw has said.
The minister in an interview with TV3 news said the directive to cut poultry imports was positively impacting on local industry.
"What we have done is to cut the importation by 30%. Every study shows that importation has gone down drastically and not many people are bringing in chicken these days. People are bringing in more of pig feats or cow legs," she said.
Dr Abissiw also said her ministry had received proposals from people who mostly import poultry products, expressing interest in local production.
She said, " A lot of people, even people who who were importing are expressing interest, bringing proposals to the ministry, they want to go into local porduction."
Ghana’s poultry imports have more than quadrupled since 2002 and increasing at a rate of five per cent annually.
Last year, Ghana’s total meat imports rose from 97,719 metric tonnes in 2012 to 183,949 metric tonnes registering an increase of 88 per cent.