The government is considering initiatives to convert surplus eggs into powdered and alternative products to tackle persistent oversupply in the poultry industry and mitigate farmers’ losses. This initiative is a key component of the proposed national poultry master plan, which aims to stabilise prices, extend product shelf life, reduce post-production losses, and create new market opportunities across the poultry value chain.
Following a stakeholder dialogue on the proposed master plan, Chief Technical Advisor to the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Kwesi Etu-Bonde, emphasised that the government is focusing on value addition and enhancing storage capacity to manage surplus egg production more effectively. “Processing eggs into powder is one of the value addition measures the poultry master plan intends to implement,” he stated.
Industry players have for years expressed concern over periodic egg oversupply, which often forces poultry farmers to sell at heavily reduced prices, leading to significant financial losses. Mr. Etu-Bonde explained that recent government support for the production of maize and soya had contributed to lower feed prices, encouraging more people to enter poultry production.
“The egg glut has come to our attention. Last year, the ministry supported the production of grains such as maize and soya, and that has brought feed prices down. As a result, more people have been incentivised to go into poultry production,” he stated. He added that the government is also using the School Feeding Programme as part of efforts to absorb some of the excess supply on the market.
“The President has instructed that the School Feeding Programme should purchase eggs from the market as part of the effort to support poultry farmers,” he noted. According to him, the proposed poultry master plan will outline long-term measures to strengthen the poultry value chain, improve processing capacity and reduce the impact of recurring production gluts across the country.
Source: Daniel Oduro-Mensah