Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Ghana launches guinea fowl project in Nyankpala Tuunayili in Tolon district

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Ghana on Thursday launched the ADRA Guinea Fowl project in Nyankpala Tuunayili in the Tolon District. The project is aimed at improving the productivity of the birds through improved housing, mortality reduction,  input and output and market linkages with other actors in the guinea fowl value chain.

The project is supporting 300 households in 12 communities in three districts namely Savelugu, Nanton and Tolon with guinea fowls kits, training, extension service support and input and output market linkages.  The KPAN project is a one-year pilot project on guinea fowl productivity improvement with funding from ADRA international based in Silver Springs, Maryland, USA.

Addressing key players in guinea fowl production, the country director of ADRA Ghana, Dr. F.W.K Brown noted that improving guinea fowl productivity and efficiency in northern Ghana project dubbed KPAN project is one of the many food security intervention projects by ADRA Ghana in the northern part of the country.

According to Dr. Brown, the goal of the project is to contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals SDGs 1 and 2 and promote sustainable agriculture for the targeted beneficiary farmers by December 2018. He said improved guinea fowl productivity will improve households’ income through the sale of birds and eggs thereby improving the coping strategies and resiliency of households.

In a speech read on behalf of the northern regional director of agriculture, Mr. Samuel Asante Mensah says guinea fowl production is not being considered as a business but rather as a way of life. He said guinea fowl production largely remains in the hands of smallholder farmers who continue to use very traditional production systems with several challenges such as high kits mortality, low eggs hatch-ability, infectious diseases such as new castle diseases (NCD), coccidiosis, fowl pox, and many others.

He also mentioned inadequate knowledge on improved production systems, housing management, disease prevention, nutrition and feeding as major factors of low productivity of the birds in the region. He called for efforts by the ministry of food and agriculture to put in measures to increase the productivity of guinea fowl through activities including sensitization programs and education.

Mr. Asante appealed to the district heads of agriculture to take keen interest in the project to ensure that its benefits are realized by farmers and other stakeholders. He also called on beneficiary farmers to take good care of the birds and abide by all the improved practices prescribed to them to increase their productivity.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Tolon, Mrs. Balchisu Yakubu said the improvement of guinea fowl production in the district fits well with the government agenda of  “one district one factory (1d1f)’’ noting that as a district residents are very much interested in the project. She entreated beneficiary farmers to take the initiative by ADRA Ghana seriously.

BY: LILIAN D. WALTER