One of the government’s flagship programmes, “Nkoko Nkitinkiti”, is set to be launched today, Wednesday, November 12. This was announced by the Minister of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu.

He confirmed the launch of the programme in a Facebook post on Sunday, November 9, through a Facebook post and subsequent media briefings, noting Kumasi as the venue for the launch. The post explains the purpose of the programme and its anticipated impact on the country’s poultry sector.

“This week is a very important one for our country. On Wednesday, November 12, President John Dramani Mahama will launch one of the government’s flagship programmes, Nkoko Nkitinkiti, in Kumasi. This initiative will boost poultry production, reduce imports, and create jobs for thousands of households,” adding that “Later in the week, the Finance Minister will present the 2026 Budget to Parliament. We will also receive the final report on the Adansi helicopter tragedy. A week of accountability and progress.”

Though the exact operational details of the programme remain undisclosed, it is expected to focus on community development and youth empowerment initiatives in line with the government’s social intervention agenda.

The Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative, which is also labelled as ‘backyard poultry programme’ by the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, is set to empower about 60,000 households in all the 276 constituencies nationwide to produce 3 million birds. According to him, the programme is targeted at single mothers, Persons with disabilities and other vulnerable people in the community during an address on October 16.

Speaking during a media briefing ahead of the launch tomorrow, Mr Opoku clarified that “the government’s Nkoko Nkitinkiti policy, which is to be launched, does not cover commercial poultry farmers. The policy is purposely for households. While the government is starting with the Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative, the public must understand that it is just one aspect of the government’s poultry production plans. We have another program under which we are targeting existing poultry farmers.”

However, he noted that the government has other policy directives that will be rolled out to support large-scale and medium-scale poultry farmers.

The policy is part of the broader Feed Ghana strategy and includes training, access to feed, and improved breeding stock. Originally set for July, it was delayed to October for stakeholder engagement. By reducing the $300 million spent annually on poultry imports, the initiative seeks to revitalise agriculture, empower youth, and strengthen Ghana’s self-sufficiency in protein production.

The Minister for Food and Agriculture stated that technical staff from the ministry are engaging stakeholders in the poultry industry to gather data and information on how best the policy can be rolled out, noting that the information received from the field officers will guide them as to who gets to be selected to benefit from the policy rollout.

“What we are doing now is dealing with backyard poultry farming. That has nothing to do with the commercial farmers. It has nothing to do with the commercial farmers. In fact, the technical people are already in the field. We are selecting the beneficiaries based on their capacities in their various places.

“So, in Bono Ahafo, for instance, the people have submitted their reports. They have gone to their places of work and have identified those people we can work with. Now, we have to engage with them based on the information that we have before we roll out that one”, the Minister said.

Hon. Opoku then noted that there are other plans underway that are purposely for large-scale and medium-scale commercial farmers, emphasising the need for an overall increment in poultry production in the country to reduce imports and over-reliance on imported poultry and poultry produce.

The minister noted that there is an existing program from last year where some poultry farmers were provided with the logistics and financial support, with the understanding that they would pay back after harvest.

In an earlier address in April by President Mahama, he revealed that the policy will be implemented in collaboration with Poultry Farmers Associations, which will support “hatcheries, feedmills, veterinary services and poultry processing centres.

This year, 50 anchor farmers will be supported to produce four million birds, which will be equivalent to 10,000 tonnes of chicken. Additionally, a supplementary programme will involve the registration of 55,000 households across this country, and each of these households will produce 500 birds every year. We believe that this will rear over 1 million birds to improve the income of women and the nutrition of their children”.

Meanwhile, while farmers have commended the government for the initiative to deal with poultry importation, they have expressed concerns about being sidelined in designing the programme. Some farmers also expressed their dissatisfaction with the government’s decision to exclude commercial farmers, who have described themselves as a crucial party in ensuring the effectiveness of the programme. The National Poultry Farmers Association (NPFA) have also warned that the government may incur losses if the programme is not effectively implemented.

They are calling for a balanced household empowerment with support for commercial farmers, and to ensure proper training and monitoring so the initiative doesn’t backfire.

Meanwhile, the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who also represents the people of Effutu Constituency in January this year expressed his belief in the government’s proposed poultry programme.

Speaking during the vetting of Agriculture Minister-designate, Eric Opoku, Mr Markin described it as a potential solution to the country's high youth unemployment rate.

Mr Afenyo-Markin noted that, as an entrepreneur, he recognises the pressure the youth unemployment crisis places on the political class and believes the programme could offer a viable solution.

“I heard it from President, Mahma, and for me as an entrepreneur, knowing the pressure from our youth on all of us as a political class, beyond the political rhetoric, I believe that if it [nkoko nketenkete] is implemented, it will help the youth because a lot of them are dejected in this country. They don’t have jobs, and the pressure is on us,” he stated.