Denmark to build abattoir for ostrich farmers

A 500,000-dollar abattoir to process ostrich meat for the international market is to be built for the Ghana Ostrich Farmers Association at Dahwenya in the Greater-Accra Region.

The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) would build the facility by the end of this year, Dr Bernard Kwasi Glover, Executive Director of the Ghana Ostrich Products Company, told a group of journalists during a visit to his four hectare ostrich farm.

The farm that he started two years ago at Kpotame-Tefle has 500 birds and he is building a restaurant to make the farm to serve as an eco-tourism attraction.

He said the skin of the ostrich is used to manufacture ladies bags and sandals while an ostrich egg serves 30 people at a meal.

Dr Glover, who is also the Executive Director of Villa Cisneros Resort, said the meat is good because of its low cholesterol content.

''Currently the company supplies ostrich sausages to super markets and restaurants in Accra.''

He said the abattoir would enable the Association to enter the Ghanaian market fully since a lot of people now preferred ostrich meat to others.

Dr Glover praised the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for developing special interest in ostrich farming and provided two incubators at a cost of 24,000 dollars for the company.