Poultry farming is the core agricultural pillar industry in Ghana and Senegal, which can not only drive employment and increase income, help rural revitalization, build a strong regional food security line of defense, alleviate the pressure of foreign exchange outflow, but also drive the core engine of transformation and upgrading of West African agriculture.

Current Situation of Ghana's Poultry Farming

Ghana's poultry industry is dominated by small and medium-sized farms and supplemented by large farms, with 29 large farms accounting for only 20% of production and small and medium-sized farms contributing 80%. However, the pain points of the industry are significant: high cost of feed, weak disease prevention and control, and lagging infrastructure, which seriously constrains upgrading.

Ghana's demand for poultry products continues to rise, family consumption, catering and food processing raw material demand increases year by year, but the serious shortage of local production capacity, supply and demand gap is huge, can only rely on imports to fill, further drag down the development of the poultry industry in Ghana.

Import dependence is the fatal short board of Ghana's poultry industry: not only a large number of imports of chicken meat, eggs, end products, breeding vaccines only NDI2 can be produced locally, the rest rely on imports. This not only raises the cost of the industry, but also makes the industry vulnerable to fluctuations in the international market, but also causes foreign exchange outflow, laying a hidden danger to the security of the industry.

Senegal Poultry Industry: Comparative Analysis

Senegal's poultry industry is also dominated by small-scale farming, facing common challenges such as high feed costs, difficulties in disease prevention and control, and low industry concentration, but relying on the national PRACAS agri-food upgrading program, poultry farming has received key policy support.

The country's agricultural regulatory experience is mature, peanut export full-process traceability system can be directly used in the poultry industry, to achieve the whole chain of supervision, quality and efficiency; at the same time, there are sufficient resources for international cooperation, breeding technology and training experience, Ghana can be a reference.

The two countries have great potential for cooperation in the poultry industry: common pain points can be easily solved jointly and resources can be shared; Ghana has the advantage of market and scale, while Senegal has the advantage of regulation and international resources; complementary synergies can promote industrial upgrading and enhance the competitiveness of the West African region.

Ghana-Senegal Strategic Partnership

• The two countries have introduced a number of policies to build a solid foundation for cooperation: Ghana has implemented a five-year tax exemption for poultry processing enterprises to attract investment, Senegal has increased financial support based on the PRACAS program, and the two sides have deepened their cooperation in terms of subsidies for farmers, investment in scientific research, and uniformity of regulatory standards to optimize the environment for industrial development.
• Infrastructure upgrading is the focus of cooperation: for Ghana's feed mill capacity utilization rate of only 40%-50%, the two countries will jointly technical reform to improve efficiency, and synchronize the new modern hatchery, processing and cold chain facilities, to make up for the short board of the whole chain, reduce losses, improve efficiency and increase revenue.
• Technical exchanges are the core of cooperation, the two countries will establish a regular sharing mechanism: Senegal to promote product traceability system, Ghana to share the experience of small and medium-sized farmers to support, but also to jointly develop epidemic prevention protocols, the promotion of West Africa to simplify the process of epidemic prevention and control capacity.
• This cooperation not only helps the two countries to improve the quality and upgrade of the poultry industry, but also to create a regional poultry industry chain in West Africa, to realize the synergy of the whole chain, to strengthen the SADC trade collaboration, to enhance the competitiveness of the regional industry, and to promote economic integration.

Addressing Challenges in Poultry Breeding

• For the core pain point of high feed costs, the two countries will rely on local corn, wheat bran, soybean meal and other raw materials to develop low-cost formulas, instead of imported raw materials to reduce costs; at the same time, joint procurement of raw materials, improve bargaining power, further compression of procurement costs, reduce the pressure on farmers.
• Epidemic prevention and control, the two countries will strengthen biosecurity, the implementation of normalized epidemic prevention process, strict adherence to the West African epidemic prevention standards; at the same time to build a joint monitoring system, sharing of information on epidemics, joint research and introduction of vaccines, to enhance the ability of independent prevention and control.
• In order to support small and medium-sized farmers, the two countries will launch a diversified financing program, set up a special fund, provide low-interest loans and subsidies; at the same time, promote the model of cooperatives, and promote large-scale farming. Ghana also reduced or waived the import tax on breeding equipment, reducing farmers' investment in equipment and boosting industrial upgrading.
• The poultry industry in the two countries focuses on sustainable development: in response to the problem of “people and animals competing for food”, it promotes ecological breeding, optimizes feed formulations, promotes waste recycling, reduces emissions and lowers carbon emissions, and pushes forward the green transformation of the industry.

Economic and Social Impacts of Poultry Production Enhancement

• The expansion of poultry production will lead to the employment of the whole industrial chain, and the jobs will mainly benefit rural groups and youth, which can not only alleviate the employment pressure on youth and improve the income of farmers, but also boost the economic development and social stability of the countryside.
• At the level of food security, the increase in local poultry production can reduce import dependence, resist the risk of fluctuations in the international market, stabilize the market supply, suppress prices, and allow the public to obtain affordable protein, improve food self-sufficiency, and build a solid livelihood security.
• The growth of the poultry industry will inject new impetus for the economic growth of the two countries. With the increase in production and industrial upgrading, the export potential of poultry products in the two countries will be gradually released, which is expected to increase foreign exchange earnings;
• At the same time, the development of the poultry industry will also drive the development of feed production, veterinary services, breeding equipment manufacturing and other related industries, forming an industrial cluster effect, promoting the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and providing strong support for the economic development of the two countries.

Product Solutions to Support Poultry Production

In order to help improve the quality and efficiency of poultry farming in the two countries, a series of targeted product solutions have been gradually promoted and applied, among which broiler growth promoter and egg-laying enhancer are the most representative.

Broiler Growth Booster

• The main ingredients of broiler growth promoter include biologically active peptides, oligosaccharides, compound enzymes, etc., which have the remarkable effects of enhancing immunity, reducing feed costs, accelerating growth speed and minimizing the occurrence of diseases.
• After using this product, 3-7 days can significantly improve the feed absorption rate of broilers and reduce feed feces;
• 14 days can significantly improve the survival rate of broilers;
• During brooding period, broilers have glossy toe scales and bright feather color;
• During the fattening period, it can regulate the intestinal environment, improve feed utilization, reduce the occurrence of diseases and the use of drugs, and enhance the anti-stress ability of broilers.

Laying Egg Promoter

• The main ingredients of Laying Enhancer include glycerol terpenoids, oligosaccharides, xylan, date palm enzyme, hawthorn, α-mannan peptide, bioactive peptide plant extracts, etc. It protects the intestinal health and enhances the laying ability of broilers.
• Protect intestinal health and enhance egg production. The product can improve the gastrointestinal tract digestion and absorption function of laying hens and reduce the feed to egg ratio by 2-3%;
• Activate ovarian function, promote follicle development and maturation and ovulation, enhance egg production rate by 3-5%;
• Increase the weight of oviduct, enhance the function of oviduct gland secretion, make the eggshell hard, smooth and glossy, and at the same time enhance the egg weight by 2-5%;
• Activating the immune system, removing toxins from the body, reducing laying fatigue syndrome in laying hens, extending the peak laying period by 2-5 months, and significantly reducing breeding costs.

The use of the two products is simple and easy to understand, easy for farmers to operate: every 2000 grams of product can be mixed with 2000 kg of feed, continuous use of the best results, packaging specifications for 2 kg / bag, farmers can be based on their own scale of flexible procurement and use, easy to realize the enhancement of breeding efficiency.

The Role of Technology and Innovation

Digital technology is reshaping the poultry farming model of the two countries, and the two countries are promoting tools such as farm management, disease monitoring and e-commerce platforms to help farmers farm accurately and increase efficiency and income, which is in line with the trend of digital transformation of West African agriculture.

The popularization and application of innovative breeding technologies have provided strong support for the upgrading of the poultry industry in the two countries. In the field of feed production, the innovation of local raw material formula reduces the cost of feed; in the field of disease prevention and control, the application of digital monitoring technology realizes the early detection and disposal of epidemics;

In the breeding sector, the promotion of automated equipment reduces labor costs, improves the scale and standardization of breeding, and promotes the transformation of poultry farming from traditional mode to modern mode.

Local agricultural science and technology startups have become an important force in promoting the innovative development of the poultry industry. The two countries are actively promoting cooperation between agro-tech startups and farmers and government departments, and encouraging startups to develop affordable, grounded and innovative solutions in light of local farming practices.

Conclusion

The bilateral cooperation between Ghana and Senegal in promoting poultry production aims to solve the core pain points of the poultry industry in the two countries, and through policy synergy, infrastructure upgrading, technology exchange and product innovation.

It aims to expand production capacity, reduce import dependence and improve industrial competitiveness, so as to not only solve the pain points of the industry, but also consolidate the foundation of sustainable development, and unleash significant economic and social benefits.