By Grace Zigah
The National Democratic Congress government’s flagship Nkoko Nkitinkiti poultry programme has suffered an unexpected setback after the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, disclosed in Parliament that some beneficiaries have slaughtered and eaten the birds distributed under the initiative instead of rearing them for breeding and commercial production.
The Minister made the revelation when he appeared before Parliament’s Assurance Committee on Thursday, July 9, 2026, expressing disappointment that some beneficiaries who are members of the party to whom the birds were given had completely misunderstood the objective of the programme.
According to him, several recipients had even gone as far as recording videos of themselves preparing and eating the birds before forwarding the footage to him.
“The immediate consumption of birds deviates from the purpose of the programme,” Opoku lamented, noting that the initiative was designed to establish sustainable backyard poultry farms rather than provide households with meat for immediate consumption.
The Nkoko Nkitinkiti programme forms part of the Mahama administration’s broader agricultural transformation agenda aimed at reducing the heavy dependence on imported poultry products.
For decades, Ghana has relied heavily on imported frozen chicken, with billions of cedis spent annually on poultry imports. The programme seeks to reverse that trend by encouraging households to rear birds, multiply their stock and eventually earn additional income while contributing to national food security.
Government has consistently appealed to beneficiaries to treat the birds as productive assets capable of generating long-term economic benefits instead of viewing them as food for immediate consumption.
The Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive had earlier cautioned beneficiaries to rear the birds for profit rather than slaughter them.
Addressing the committee, Eric Opoku stressed that the success of the programme depends on beneficiaries allowing the birds to reproduce and expand their flocks, thereby increasing local poultry production and reducing the country’s food import bill.
Despite the challenge confronting the poultry initiative, the Minister outlined several interventions being implemented to support farmers nationwide.
He announced that the government has distributed 1,500 bags of fertiliser to every agricultural constituency in Ghana to support farmers ahead of the current farming season.
“We have recently distributed fertilisers to all the agricultural constituencies in this country. Every constituency has been given 1,500. It’s not even a district. Every constituency,” he told Parliament.
Opoku explained that while some constituencies were still awaiting delivery, contractors responsible for the distribution exercise were completing the remaining consignments, expressing confidence that all outstanding deliveries would be concluded by the close of next week.
The Minister also revealed that government has introduced a special intervention targeting smallholder and peasant farmers after an assessment of last year’s fertiliser distribution exposed weaknesses in the traditional distribution system.
According to him, many small-scale farmers were excluded from previous allocations because the conventional distribution channels failed to reach them. To address the challenge, the government has significantly increased support to the Peasant Farmers Association.
He disclosed that while the association received 15,000 bags of fertiliser last year, the allocation has now been increased to 40,000 bags, separate from the 1,500 bags allocated to each agricultural constituency.
Opoku explained that the decision was intended to ensure that smallholder farmers, who constitute the majority of the farming population, are not left out of government agricultural support programmes.
The Minister maintained that government remains committed to boosting local food production through increased access to agricultural inputs, improved poultry production and targeted interventions designed to strengthen food security, create employment and reduce Ghana’s dependence on imported food products.
However, he cautioned beneficiaries of the Nkoko Nkitinkiti programme that the long-term success of the initiative depends on raising the birds for breeding and commercial production rather than consuming them shortly after receiving them.
