{
  "id": 19765352,
  "title": "US$200m chicken import bill puts local poultry production in focus – Forson",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/us-200m-chicken-import-bill-puts-local-poultry-production-in-focus-19765352",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-13T05:26:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Joy Business",
    "slug": "joy-business",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/us200m-chicken-import-bill-puts-local-poultry-production-in-focus-forson/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has raised concerns over Ghana's annual spending of approximately US$200 million on imported chicken. He believes that local production of maize and soybean could bolster the domestic poultry industry. During a presentation of the 2027 Budget to Parliament, the minister emphasized the importance of agricultural modernization to reduce food imports. He questioned why Ghana continues to import such a significant amount of chicken when it has the land, water resources, and a youthful population to support its own poultry industry. Dr Forson highlighted that the existing approach to agriculture is not sufficient to meet the country's needs, noting that Ghana's total food import bill amounts to around US$3.5 billion yearly. He expressed worries about continued dependence on foreign supplies for various products that Ghana could produce independently. The minister also inquired about planned investments in commercial agriculture and agribusiness, including poultry, maize, soybean, rice, oil palm, sugar, aquaculture, and vegetables. He raised similar concerns about fish imports and the country's reliance on neighboring Burkina Faso for onions and tomatoes. Dr Forson stressed the need for more domestic processing of Ghana's cocoa, arguing that the current model of buying cocoa beans and exporting them allows other countries to reap the benefits of value addition. He pointed out that a new Cocoa Board Act provides for 50% local processing, with a legislative instrument aiming to increase this to 100% by 2030. Dr Forson mentioned ongoing discussions with Dangote regarding an investment in Ghana to process 500,000 metric tonnes of cocoa locally.",
  "summary": "Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has questioned Ghana’s annual spending of about US$200 million on chicken imports, arguing that local maize and soybean production could support a stronger domestic poultry industry.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}