Author: Nico C.M. van Staalduinen, is a involved Ghanaian, businessman and columnist with African Entertainment
I do know it is a controversial warning and lots individuals will attempt to say I’m improper.
But I stated and wrote it earlier than, and can proceed time and again to warn individuals and stop them from shedding their cash.
Our successive governments, farming organizations, suppliers of apparatus, medicines, feed, assist organizations and overseas governments will contradict me however enable me to clarify why we shouldn’t waste our time and costly cash into industrial poultry (learn hen/broiler) farming in Ghana.
First of all anyone’s cause to speculate is to make revenue. The finest income and return on investments are made in international locations and a areas the place the circumstances are the most effective.
The circumstances of constructing a revenue with hen/broiler farming in Ghana are one of many worst. On high of it he solely cause why farming hen for egg manufacturing can nonetheless be (marginally) worthwhile is due to the low worth and quick shelf lifetime of an egg.
I’ll rigorously construct my explanation why to not spend money on industrial broiler farming in Ghana however will begin with a conclusion of a scientific report produced by CBI.NLM with articles of specialists from Nigeria, Ghana, Niger, India and others.
The stories conclusions are: Tropical circumstances are too harsh and trigger extreme warmth stress in particularly the sub-Saharan tropics resulting in decrease consumption of feed drastically lowering the feed / meat conversion and mortality charges of broilers. Decreased/efficiency of between 21 and 36% are frequent. Optimal development in reasonable temperature zones between 18-24 levels Celsius. The report ends with: The influence of local weather change will doubtless worsen this case.
This report and lots of others are solely trying on the precise broiler rising scenario within the tropics. They don’t embrace many different elements which I’ll point out right here.
First of all I’ve nothing in opposition to roaring poultry at house or as a semi-professional, I’ve chickens and geese myself and I really like feeding them, however principally consuming them at a later stage. I labored within the worldwide import and export of poultry fo virtually 20 years and know the business and commerce nicely.
Let’s begin from the start virtually just like the hen or the egg query.
What kind of hen is the worldwide poultry business utilizing for probably the most worthwhile hen meat manufacturing?
Over 85% of the poultry farmers use solely 2 (hybrid) hen races.
Cobb and Ross, each are bread from a Cornish hen, each are developed within the northern hemisphere and each will not be appropriate for the tropics. Other hen breeds will not be producing meat as efficient as these 2 though Olam is attempting to develop higher performing broilers.
So that straightforward truth places us within the tropics already step one behind in broiler manufacturing.
What does a broiler want? Correct temperature 18-24 levels Celsius, feed, medicines.
The optimum slaughter weight of a hen, or every other animal farmed professionally is when the quantity of meals you set in ends in the optimum quantity of meat. In easy phrases if the primary 5kg meals ends in 1 kg meat and the second 5 kg meals ends in including solely 900 gram you need to have slaughtered after the primary 5 kg.
In the reasonable 18-24 levels a hen grows from the day he comes out of his egg as much as 2.5-3.0 kg slaughter weight in 38-42 days. In the tropics the identical 2.5 slaughter weight takes 50-60 days, just because when it’s sizzling the hen is burdened, drinks extra and when your abdomen is stuffed with water there isn’t any area for meals. That’s the second step we, within the tropics are behind.
Heat stress impacts the mortality price of hen. Not solely while rising however already after we transport the 1 day chicks to our farms and ending after we convey them to an abattoir. Although its one other issue including to my level its included within the earlier one.
Our feed drawback, Ghana doesn’t produce sufficient corn and soya to feed our life inventory. Because of that we import them for our poultry business, so we find yourself with increased feed prices that our third step behind.
Commercial farming wants correct gear, which we don’t produce but in addition treatment to maintain our broilers wholesome and stop them from getting sick. Ghana doesn’t produce animal antibiotics and many others. On high of that we have to spray or take different measures in opposition to snakes, monitor lizards and many others. all including to our manufacturing prices.
Last however not least: overseas competitors! I do know we might comply with Nigeria’s plan to avoid wasting the business and ban import of hen, But don’t neglect the circumstance to develop hen in Nigeria are simply as unhealthy as in Ghana. The results of this ban is: Nigerian shoppers pay rather more for hen than we do in Ghana and the largest hen importer in west-Africa is Benin, due to smuggling and the nation is lacking out on taxes.
Dumping defined: People from the native business are principally claiming that western international locations are dumping poultry in Ghana.
That’s not true! The WTO system of dumping is: “A situation of international price discrimination, where the price of a product when sold in the importing country is less than the price of that product in the market of the exporting country”.
They merely have a unique custom and desire of hen. They like hen breast meat greater than different elements. Because of that the costs of hen fillet are rather more costly which permits them to promote the legs, wings at decrease costs on which they nonetheless make a revenue so this isn’t dumping!.
I guess the good ones amongst my readers will say: “why don’t we export filets”.
Indeed that may very well be an answer, however: To have the ability to export poultry we have to fulfill sure hygienic and management of animal ailments. Ghana hardly fulfils any worldwide requirement. We don’t have illness managed areas; we don’t adjust to worldwide requirements and many others. Even if we tried to set them up do you assume that each one the villagers subsequent to a poultry farm are able to kill all their poultry when there’s a decease outbreak?
Countries like Brazil, China and Thailand reduce their chickens up similar to Europe and the USA. They each have a small native marketplace for their filets and export the excess filets to the USA and Europe.
Although these hen filets are cheaper no one in Europe and USA calls that dumping. Thailand and Brazil have one other huge benefit; each have a big poor inhabitants who appreciates the opposite (cheaper) elements.
We all learn the latest stories of individuals within the poultry business shedding their cash, farms and investments.
Politicians are left and proper promising to do their finest to assist them. They will not be actually inquisitive about your revenue. They want your vote for the subsequent elections. My recommendation to politicians is; do your homework earlier than promising help to poultry farners, the reality will forestall a lot of them from a monetary catastrophe.
The feed business will say it’s attainable however my reply is: Yes it’s technically attainable however not economically.
A superb comparability is the governments warning to not construct on waterways. Whilst it’s technically attainable to construct on waterways it’s solely very costly to do it right..
Poultry farming is rather like constructing on waterways, we will construct closed stables with AC to maintain the optimum temperature, with gentle to increase the feeding hours, we will develop our personal feed, we will produce animal antibiotics, we will create illness management areas, we will construct hygienic and export permitted slaughterhouses.
This will all create the identical circumstances as the massive poultry exporting international locations, however the query is; can we ever compete with them after investing in all of that?
I discovered a small lesson after I owned a farm in South Africa. Most of my neighbors had been in cattle and sheep farming, I used to be in antelope farming.
During the dry season they farms regarded horrible, dry yellow grass because of lack of water lack of feed they usually all ended up shopping for costly feed and water, Whilst my farm was trying okay, and why?
Because for my Springbock, Blesbock, Kudu, Waterbock and many others that was their pure setting, they had been nicely outfitted for that setting.
It’s the identical in Ghana with these industrial hen in Ghana it’s: not their pure setting.
We have lots different animals we might farm and do nicely in our tropical setting. We love bush meat, however no one farms it anymore, not even our liked Akrantie. I don’t assume anyone ever tried antelope breeding in Ghana? We love goats however who’s severely concerned in goat farming? Why don’t we farm the Indian Water buffalo an animal who does very nicely within the tropics and might produce simply as a lot milk as a European cow. Try Guinea fowl, the failed venture doesn’t imply it’s unimaginable. Nobody farms shrimps? We might farm mussels or our adode why?
My conclusion (and different professionals) about poultry in Ghana is: DON’T PUT YOUR MONEY IN IT.
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