John Dumelo, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, has presented 110,000 birds to be distributed to farmers under the government’s flagship ‘Nkoko Nketenkete’ initiative in the Bono East Region.

The beneficiary poultry farmers are spread across the 11 political and administrative Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the region.

Dumelo said the government would also provide about 48,833 bags of feed, 63,000 doses of antibiotics and 44,000 units of glucose to take care of the birds.

Speaking at a ceremony in Techiman, the regional capital, the Deputy Minister said each of the assemblies was to receive and distribute 10,000 birds, and asked the various MMDAs in the region to monitor the birds to enable the nation derive optimum benefits.

He said the government remained dedicated to reviving and boosting the nation’s poultry industry to reduce the annual importation of chicken and create employment opportunities.

Dumelo said the government would soon provide farmers with subsidised fertiliser, seedlings and other farm inputs under the implementation of the Feed Ghana Programme, and advised beneficiaries of the ‘Nkoko Nketenkete’ initiative to take good care of the birds.

Francis Owusu Antwi, the Bono East Regional Minister, lauded the ‘Nkoko Nketenkete’ initiative and expressed the hope that farmers would leverage the support to help the government achieve its vision for the poultry sector.

He said the initiative had huge potential to lessen the economic burden on the people and directed personnel of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to intensify monitoring and supervision of the birds.