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UK AgDevCo invests $375,000 into local guinea fowl company

Gee's is currently the largest private guinea fowl abattoir operator in the North of Ghana.

 

AgDevCo has announced a $375,000 investment into Gee's Fresh Point (Gee's), a slaughterer, processor and marketer of frozen specialty meat - in particular guinea fowl - purchased from small-scale farmers based in Northern Ghana.

Gee's is currently the largest private guinea fowl abattoir operator in the North of Ghana. The business is recognized as a pioneer and the only company developing the demand side of the guinea fowl value chain in the country.

Through strategic high-traffic retail locations at selected domestic airports and targeted marketing Gee's is deepening the market for guinea fowl, particularly in Southern Ghana. This is expected to result in an estimated 25-50% increase in income for small-scale farmers.

Gee's has received a USD 375,000 loan from AgDevCo. This investment will support the upgrading and partial mechanization of Gee's processing line, a new cold storage and refrigeration truck, and the installation of a rendering plant to convert waste from the processing line into animal feed for sale.

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As a result of increased processing capacity, it is estimated that Gee's will be able to purchase birds from c. 1,500 small-scale farmers by 2019 at a value of USD 2.4m annually.

Yasser Toor, AgDevCo's West Africa Director said: "We believe that by helping socially-responsible organizations like Gee's, AgDevCo can contribute to build additional processing capacity in Northern Ghana and help increase incomes for thousands of small-scale farmers."

Guinea fowl is the most-reared avian in northern Ghana where it is bred by most rural households. Guinea fowl is well adapted to the local climate and plays an important role in the rural economy.

Additionally guinea fowl is leaner than poultry and thought to offer greater nutritional benefit compared to chicken.

Despite this, it currently represents a small fraction (est. 5%-10%) of Ghana's poultry flock and sales.

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