The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has announced that government has begun procuring birds for Members of Parliament under the Nkokɔ Nkitinkiti initiative, part of efforts to strengthen domestic poultry production.
Appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Assurances, Mr. Opoku explained that the programme is designed to encourage legislators to venture into poultry farming while advancing the broader national agenda of reducing reliance on imported poultry products. He disclosed that although a formal proposal will soon be presented to Parliament for approval, preparatory work is already underway. “I will soon table a proposal before Parliament for consideration. If Parliament agrees, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture will support all parliamentarians to go into poultry production,” he said. “Even though I’m calling it a proposal, plans are far advanced.”
The Minister revealed that the Ministry had already initiated the process of securing birds specifically for MPs ahead of the rollout. “The Ministry is procuring some quantity of birds, mainly for Members of Parliament,” he stated, adding that once ready, the birds would be distributed to designated centres to enable interested lawmakers to begin production.
Mr. Opoku said the decision to involve MPs was based on their capacity to expand poultry businesses and attract wider investment into the sector. He described poultry farming as profitable and urged legislators to embrace the opportunity. “And I must say that it’s a very viable project. I’m a poultry farmer myself. I started not long ago. If you know what I know, you would have run to be part of that process,” he remarked.
He further noted that many MPs are already active in agriculture. “As we speak, about 67% of MPs in Ghana are farmers. And so when you see people in ties, and you think that they are only making money from Parliament, you are deceiving yourself,” he added.
The Nkokɔ Nkitinkiti initiative is one of government’s flagship agricultural programmes aimed at revitalising Ghana’s poultry industry, boosting local production, creating investment opportunities, and cutting dependence on imported chicken and other poultry products.
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