Abstract
The poultry industry is known to be a major contributor to Ghana’s economy through employment creation and the enhancement of nutrition and food security. In spite of these contributions, the poultry industry is faced with a number of problems that necessitate solution. The study was conducted in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region of Ghana, with the prospects and challenges of the local poultry industry as its main objective. Ten poultry farmers were engaged as research participants using both structured and semi-structured interviews. Interactions with the poultry farmers in the municipality revealed that, poultry and its products provide some acceptable form of protein to humans to combat mal-nutrition, create employment and also give income to these farmers. Marketing of eggs does not present any problem at all with cash flow to farmers during egg collection. There is also abundant labor and land for poultry farming. The study showed that apart from the poultry farms, farmers also engage in crop cultivation as well as livestock rearing like goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, domestic fowls and ducks. All the farmers provided a well-ventilated house for housing their poultry birds (intensive system). The main management practices carried out by the farmers are; the provision of feed, security, water, regular replacement of litters and vaccination against diseases. Problems encountered by the farmers include inadequate capital, expensive feed and equipment, incidence of diseases and poor weather conditions. Other constraints of the industry in the municipality include; expensive vaccine, expensive veterinary services, management of sick birds, low patronage of live birds due to few restaurants and hotels in the municipality. The study concludes that, government should implement more stringent measures so as to protect the local poultry industry from dying and also support poultry farmers through subsidies. Key words: Poultry industry, prospects and challenges, Wa Municipality.  
Highlights
Poultry and its products are of considerable significance to both humans and animals
The study had shown that local poultry farmers in the
Based on the research findings the following are recommended to the expansion of the poultry industry in the study area: 1. There is the need to create and expand already existing facilities to train more veterinary technical officers, so as to bring about cost effective ways of boosting the poultry industry
Summary
Poultry and its products are of considerable significance to both humans and animals. The source of the drastic decline in the local industry share on the market for poultry is traced to the trade liberalization policy which allows the unlimited importation of highly subsidized poultry products from Europe and elsewhere into the Ghanaian market (SEND-Ghana, 2008). Ghana accounts for as much as 30 percent of all poultry products imported into the West African Sub-region from European Union (EU). Secondary data were gathered from existing facts and figures, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Regional Office about the prospects and challenges that the local poultry industry experiences. They were used to validate data collected from the farmers and other research participants to triangulate the primary data. Descriptive statistics was employed in the analysis and presentation of the data gathered
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
