Middlemen Driving Up Cost Of Local Chicken Above Imported Ones – DumeloDeputy

Story By: Deborah Adorsu

Minister for Food and Agriculture, John Dumelo, has blamed middlemen for the high cost of locally produced poultry, saying their pricing practices make Ghanaian chicken more expensive than imported products.

Speaking at a poultry roundtable discussion in Accra on Monday, October 26, 2026, with the Netherlands, Mr Dumelo said intermediaries buy chicken from farmers at low prices and sell to consumers at exorbitant margins.

“One thing that is of concern to me is the cost of producing poultry. If you look at the cost of production, the number of middlemen that carry it to the consumer, so yes, even though the farmer sells at affordable prices, maybe GH¢80 before it gets to the final consumer, it is around GH¢200, and so let’s look at it,” he said.

He explained that because consumers are unable to buy directly from farmers, locally produced chicken is becoming unaffordable and uncompetitive against imports.

The Deputy Minister noted that the situation undermines government efforts to boost local production and reduce import dependence at a time when about 80 percent of Ghana’s poultry is imported, as disclosed by Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Hans Akerboom.

Mr Dumelo said the government is taking the poultry sector seriously and has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Netherlands to strengthen cooperation through technical support, investment and knowledge exchange.

He added that initiatives like the Nkoko Nkitinkiti programme under the Feed Ghana Programme are aimed at expanding household poultry farming and making fresh local chicken cheaper and more accessible.