Summary: The livestock market in Garu Tempane is buzzing with activity as buyers and sellers rush to make a deal before closing time. There are vendors selling chickens and goats but guinea fowl seems to be an especially big draw. This is because in Ghana, guinea fowl is one of the most popular sources of animal protein . The bird is native to West Africa and has long been a part of the region’s cuisine and history. The high nutritional content of guinea fowl makes it an important contribution to a food system that can feed every Ghanaian. Today, demand for guinea fowl is outpacing supply. In order to meet this demand, the World Bank-funded West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program, or WAAPP, is working with farmers in Ghana to increase production. With knowledge and the right equipment, guinea fowl can be a low-maintenance livestock to raise. Yeboah: “Guinea fowl, naturally they are heartier and they can also subsist even on vegetation. As they go around, they pick grains and insects. It is easier to manage them and less expensive to also maintain.” That’s Franklin Yeboah. He’s the assistant director with Ghana’s Ministry of Agriculture and he directs the livestock component of the WAAPP. The program has provided supplies and support to guinea fowl farmers who are just starting out. Yeboah: “We have selected 40 districts in these 3 regions and we’ve selected 2 farmers per district. And each farmer –40 of the farmers have been supported with incubator and generator sets.” “We are also giving eggs – that’s 500 eggs each. We are giving feed, and we also are giving vaccines.” As with all types of farming, there are challenges to raising guinea fowl. Yeboah: “When you take guinea fowls, for instance, hatchability is a problem. It’s very low. You have people hatching maybe 20-30% when they set eggs and they normally use the hens to hatch the eggs. “You also have high mortality because you are not able to maintain the kids. That’s when they have the kids following the hens, you have hawks and other predators also attacking the kids.” But the incubators provided by the WAAPP help the farmers achieve a higher hatchability of eggs. And with training and support, the farmers are able to raise the young guinea fowl to mature levels at which they are no longer threatened by predators. The program has been quite successful, creating jobs in rural Ghana where unemployment is high, particularly for young people. And with the constant demand for guinea fowl, the growth potential of this industry to contribute to the economy and alleviate poverty is strong. Yeboah: “The high level goal is to the reduce poverty and to increase wealth. And also to support animal protein intake.” Beneficiary farmers have experienced a large jump in their incomes, but they’re not the only ones who have profited from the program. Other farmers in the communities have been able to use the incubators for their own eggs. Now that everyone has access to the tools, more and more farmers are able to raise healthy flocks, putting them on the path to productive livelihoods. Yeboah: “It’s a source for raising extra income. Most of the farmers in Ghana do crop farming. And yet, they also do some use of subsistence livestock farming. “Now the livestock serves as a bank of wealth. So whenever they need money to do anything, they sell their animals, raise money and use the money to do whatever they need to do.”
