The Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association has lauded government’s plan to turn the Ashanti Region into the second industrial city of Ghana.

The Association however believes it can only benefit from the move only with the establishment of industries that rely on some of the products its members produce.

In an interview with Citi Business News, President of the Association, Michael Nyarko-Ampem, indicated that giving more attention to the poultry sector can help improve the country’s unemployment situation.

“I always say that poultry is one industry that you may not see as a huge business, but it is a huge one because about 60 percent of our workforce are farmers. Now when we produce the maize and soya where does it go? Poultry farmers consume about 80 percent of the total maize production. So when you produce the maize and industry consumes it and now if you do not have an industry or people who would consume it then what happens?”

He added that “you come to the people who will load this maize unto the trucks, they will bag it and load it, it’s a huge number of people. The truckers move it and when they do, they consume fuel and all of that. When they get to their destination too, the warehouse people get it done. Now the feed millers will come and mill the feed and that is another employment right out there.”

Commenting on the various aspects of potential employment the sector can create, he indicated that “The farmer would buy it and generate the eggs and generate the broiler and the people at the markets who sell these things are all engaged and then the restaurants are kept running, the hotels are kept running. So if you look at the value chain, it is a very long chain for the poultry industry so that it is an industry which when helped can really generate a lot of employment and income for the country”.

The Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, during his vetting before Parliament announced that the Free Zones Enclave in Kumasi will be turned into Ghana’s second industrial city, after Tema.

The Minister had stated that a public-private partnership was advancing towards developing the land acquired by the Government at Ejisu for activities in the industrial city because of the strategic location of the Ashanti Region.