The Chief Executive Officer of Rockland Farms, Edith Akosah Wheatland, has called for a long-term, legally backed roadmap to guide the implementation of the government’s Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative, arguing that Ghana’s poultry industry cannot be transformed through short-term interventions.Speaking during Joy Business’ high-level thought leadership roundtable on the Super Morning Show, on the theme “Can Ghana Feed Itself? The Future of Poultry Beyond Nkoko Nkitinkiti,” Ms Wheatland said the poultry sector requires a coordinated strategy that transcends political administrations.According to her, meaningful transformation of the industry will require sustained commitment over at least two decades.“What we are talking about today is not a three-year thing that we can do. We need at least a 10 to 20-year roadmap backed by a legal document so that when there is a change of government, it cannot be changed. The poultry sector has to follow that roadmap. That is how we will be able to transform it,” she said.Feed production key to reducing costs.Ms Wheatland explained that Rockland Farms invested heavily in feed production after recognising that feed accounts for about 80 per cent of the cost of raising broiler chickens.Building its own feed mill, she said, has enabled the company to reduce production costs while creating opportunities for thousands of maize farmers.“We realised that 80 per cent of the cost of the broiler is the feed. Buying it from elsewhere was making our cost of production higher, so we built our own feed mill,” she explained.The company now operates a feed mill capable of producing between eight and 10 tonnes of feed per hour and works with nearly 8,000 smallholder maize farmers.“We have close to 8,000 smallholder farmers producing maize for us. We provide them with technical support to improve their yields, which also helps bring down our cost of production in the broiler sector,” she said.Capacity building is essentialReflecting on her entrepreneurial journey, Ms Wheatland said success in poultry farming requires careful planning, investment and continuous learning.She recalled approaching a poultry expert six years ago after announcing her ambition to produce six million birds annually.“I told him I wanted to produce six million birds a year. He asked me to call him back. I called several times, but he didn’t respond. Looking back, I realised I wasn’t ready. I didn’t know what I was talking about,” she recounted.Rather than becoming discouraged, she said the experience motivated her to build the necessary expertise.“I used that disappointment as a learning curve. We started from zero. We had to learn how to get the feed right and how to get everything right. Capacity building is one of the key areas we have to focus on if we want to solve the problems in the poultry sector.”New processing plant under developmentMs Wheatland disclosed that Rockland Farms is developing a poultry processing plant in the Ashanti Region with the capacity to process 2,000 birds per hour, adding that experts who had initially questioned the company’s ambitions are now supporting the project.She stressed that transforming Ghana’s poultry industry requires collaboration across agriculture, finance, veterinary services and government.“We cannot leave it to the farmers alone. Every sector of the economy has to get involved if we want to achieve sustainable poultry production and food security in Ghana,” she said.Access to finance remains a major challengeThe Rockland Farms CEO identified limited access to finance as one of the biggest constraints facing poultry farmers, arguing that commercial banks remain reluctant to lend to the sector because of perceived risks.She believes a clear, legally backed national policy would encourage financial institutions to invest more confidently.“The banks are so afraid to finance the poultry sector that it is unbelievable. But if we had a clear policy guideline, government would not have to worry about raising money for the industry because the banks would have the appetite to finance it,” she stated.Local market still has huge potentialMs Wheatland dismissed suggestions that Ghana lacks a market for locally produced chicken, insisting that demand remains strong if producers can consistently meet quality and supply requirements.She said importers are willing to buy Ghanaian chicken but noted that deficiencies in processing infrastructure and the cold chain continue to limit the industry’s competitiveness.“We still have the local market. The importers are willing to buy from us because they want quality products. But our processing infrastructure and cold chain do not meet some of their standards. These are issues that need to be addressed,” she said.Drawing on a visit to a poultry processing facility in the Netherlands, Ms Wheatland noted that the plant processes about 160,000 birds a day.By comparison, Rockland Farms currently processes between 1,500 and 2,000 birds daily, but she said the company plans to increase capacity to 2,000 birds per hour under the government’s proposed 24-hour economy policy.“Working three shifts under the 24-hour economy, we are looking at processing about 40,000 birds a day. Think about the number of jobs that can be created,” she said.She added that the new processing facility will maximise value by converting by-products such as feathers, blood and intestines into commercial products to reduce production costs.Support local producers through procurementMs Wheatland also called for stronger public education campaigns to encourage consumers to buy locally produced chicken.She cited market research funded by the Dutch government, which found that many Ghanaians are willing to pay slightly more for locally produced chicken but often struggle to find it.“One of the issues consumers raised was availability. When we partnered with La Bianca to sell our products, many customers were surprised to discover that quality chicken was being produced in Ghana,” she said.She further urged the government to adopt a legally binding public procurement policy requiring state institutions to prioritise locally produced poultry.“Government should have a legally binding procurement policy requiring state institutions, including senior high schools, prisons and other public institutions, to buy locally produced chicken,” she proposed.