District livestock and poultry development officers across the Northern region are undergoing training in Tamale on livestock value chain enhancement.
The workshop is to equip the personnel with the requisite knowledge and skills to reduce wastage in the livestock value chain process and also aid in the execution of government’s flagship rearing for food and jobs program.
The officers are been taken through: Introduction to Value Chain Approach and Concepts, Guiding Principles of Value Chain Analysis, Conducting Value Chain Analysis and Mapping, Conducting Value Rapid Value Chain Analysis and other concepts within the livestock value chain process.
The workshop is part of events in implementing the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana project funded by the Canadian government.
Speaking to Diamond news on the sidelines of the workshop, Northern regional Livestock and Poultry Development officer, Yakubu Abukari explained that, the value chain approach highlights how effectively, partners can align their skills, resources and behavior to deliver products and services to different market segments and to reduce wastage.
He said the officers would also be schooled on how to shift from emphasis on increased production and productivity to consumer and market oriented approach in linking smallholder producers to higher value and more competitive markets.
He added that, the personal are expected to capture the development of various livestock and poultry values and to assist investors in the livestock and poultry value chains through SWOT analysis, chain analysis and mapping in their respective MMDAs.
Northern Regional Director of Agriculture, William Boakye-Acheampong addressing the participants urged them to take advantage of government’s initiatives in the agricultural sector to better their living conditions.
He said they as agricultural officers should not only offer advice to farmers but also apply same on their farms to improve productivity and increase their incomes.
The Ministry for Food and Agriculture is piloting the Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJS) in 10 MMDAs in the Northern, Savannah and the North East regions.
Five MMDAs are into cockerel (Nanumba North, Karaga and Tolon-NR, Bunkrugu-Nakpanduri-NER, Sawla Tuna Kalba-SR). Each MMDA received 500 cockerels (total 2500) and was delivered to 50 smallholder farmers after 6 weeks of brooding at a subsidized price of GHC 6.00 per cockerel to improve local fowls in the districts.
Additionally, five MMDAs are also to be supplied with 600 improved small ruminants each mainly sheep (3000) to improve the local breed.
In all the selected MMDAs each livestock farmer would receive 9 ewes and 1 ram as credit in kind and to repay 20 offspring in two years.
The five MMDAs piloting the small ruminant are Saboba and Karaga in Northern region, East Gonja and Bole in Savannah region and East Mamprusi in North East region.
Source:Diamondfmonline.com/ken zorre
