President John Dramani Mahama has described Bechem in the Ahafo Region as Ghana’s prospective “Chicken Capital” following a working visit to an ongoing poultry meat and feed processing factory expected to become operational by March 2027.
The President made the remarks during a visit to the facility alongside the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, and other government officials to assess progress on the project, which is reportedly 50 per cent complete.
“After the completion of this factory, Bechem will become the Chicken Capital of Ghana, because whoever wants chicken will come to Bechem to purchase,” Mahama said.
The project is expected to strengthen domestic poultry processing, create employment opportunities and provide a reliable market for local poultry farmers.
The President encouraged young people to participate actively in the government’s Nkoko Nketenkete programme, highlighting the market opportunities expected to emerge from the factory’s operations.
He urged beneficiaries to explore poultry production and related businesses, including purchasing refrigerated vans to distribute chicken meat to customers in other regions.
According to Mahama, such activities could create additional employment opportunities while strengthening the distribution of locally produced poultry across the country.
He also assured residents that the government would work to ensure that young people in Bechem benefit from employment opportunities after the construction phase. He commended traditional leaders and residents for their cooperation in supporting the project.
Food and Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku explained that the facility would feature two processing lines, one dedicated to broilers and the other to layers.
Together, the processing lines are expected to handle 6,000 birds per hour, providing significant capacity to process poultry for the domestic market.
To sustain operations around the clock, the government intends to establish supply arrangements with poultry farmers in surrounding regions, including Ashanti, Bono, Ahafo and Upper East.
Opoku said the proposed arrangements would enable the factory to purchase birds from local producers for processing and distribution to the market.
“We want the factory to have a contract agreement with the farmers within Ashanti, Bono Ahafo, Upper East and all the regions around, so that when they produce the fowls the factory would offtake and process them for the market,” the minister said.
The proposed supply agreements are expected to provide farmers with a more predictable market while helping the processing plant maintain a consistent supply of poultry.
Opoku also stated that Ghana’s domestic poultry production had increased from 4.6 per cent to 22 per cent as of May 2026 under the Nkoko Nketenkete programme.
The programme is intended to support local poultry production and strengthen Ghana’s capacity to meet domestic demand.
The planned processing factory is expected to complement these efforts by connecting poultry farmers to processing infrastructure and market opportunities, potentially reducing barriers to expansion across the value chain.
If completed and operated as planned, the facility could support farmers, distributors, retailers and young entrepreneurs while contributing to employment creation and the development of Ghana’s poultry industry.
The project’s next milestones will include completing construction, establishing reliable supply agreements with poultry farmers and preparing the facility for commercial operations by March 2027.
Leave a Reply