Poultry farmers have warned that the prices of eggs would rise even further in the coming days. Currently, an egg retails between Ghc2.20 and Ghc2.50.
But Ghanaians may be required to shell out even more money in the coming days to acquire the nutrition-packed poultry product.
When George Dassah, the Northern Regional Chairman of the Poultry Farmers Association, spoke to Mark Smith today on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, he mentioned that poultry farmers are forced to sell their products at even higher prices because of the continuous rise in the cost of production.
“Everything boils down to the cost of production. We were of the view that because dollar rates have been stable, prices of inputs, especially feed, would also have remained stable. But what we have realised is that in fact, certain ingredients for the feed keep increasing. For example, the concentrate we use to formulate the feed for the layer, just last week, we were buying the concentrate for Ghc687, the 50kg bag. Just yesterday, I went to buy some to prepare feed, and it is now Ghc710.”
Another major component of the feed, according to Mr. Dassah, is soya beans, a component that has remained relatively stable in price. However, the price of the same product has more than quadrupled in less than 3 years.
“As I speak to you, it is Ghc550 per 50kg. You would realise that it is those of us who are neck deep and have invested into the business and cannot pull out [that are still there]. Those who started recently are folding up.”
More price increases are in the offing, according to Mr. Dassah.
“Now in Tamale, maize is Ghc450. In 2020, you could use about Ghc2400 to prepare one tonne of feed. In 2021, you could use 4,200 to prepare the same amount of food. In 2022, it moved to Ghc7,400. It is not of our making. If we wanted to maintain prices, we would have to fold up. A few days ago, I got a call from our national secretary to have a meeting to see how we can increase the price of eggs,” he said.
According to Mr. Dassah, feed constitutes about 70 percent of the cost of producing an egg.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
