More than 200 residents in South Tongu receive poultry birds under the Nkoko Nkitinkiti (Koklovi) initiative
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for South Tongu, Hon. Victoria Dzeklo has called on beneficiaries of the government flagship ‘Nkoko Nkitinkiti’ initiative otherwise known as the ‘Koklovi’ programme, not only to take good and proper care of the birds but also nurture them appropriately in order to realize the expected results.
According to her, the Assembly would pay regular visits to the homes of the beneficiaries in order to ensure that the initiative succeeds.
The DCE made the call at Akato and Sogakope at separate ceremonies to officially distribute live birds, mostly layers, to a number of beneficiaries under the government’s flagship poultry birds rearing programme.
The Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative otherwise known as the Koklovi programme was one of the campaign promises made by the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 general elections.
The initiative is aimed among other things at creating employment opportunities particularly for the youth, improving household incomes and reducing the country’s dependence on imported eggs and poultry products.
The long-term vision of the programme is to position Ghana as a net exporter of eggs and chicken to other countries within and outside the West African sub-region.
In the South Tongu District, more than Two Hundred (200) persons across the five traditional areas of the district are benefiting from the programme.
According to the DCE, each individual is receiving thirty-five (35) birds instead of fifty (50), explaining that apart from the fact that the number of beneficiaries has increased considerably, some mortalities also befall the Ten Thousand (10,000) birds received from the government which were graciously kept at the Shallom Poultry Farms Limited near Akato.
Hon. Victoria Dzeklo stressed the need for the beneficiaries to take good care of the birds. ‘Most of them are layers.
If you don’t feed them well, you will not get the expected yield or result from them’, the DCE explained. She was hopeful that the initiative would afford many youths the opportunity to become great poultry farmers in their numbers and the district at large.
Some of the beneficiaries of the initiative also spoke with our newsteam. They were grateful to the government for the gesture, describing it as very timely, adding that the support would surely transform their lives.
Messrs Holy Ahiabu from Dabala, David Kwame Abotsi from Galotse and Miss Patience Adutse of Sogakope pledged not only to take good care of the birds but also excel in poultry farming in their small ways. The beneficiaries also urged the youth to take advantage of the initiative to turn around their economic fortunes.
The event was witnessed by some Assembly Members headed by their Presiding Member, Hon. Mensah Kwaku Kudze, some officials of the Assembly as well as some officers from the District Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
Story by Kekeli K. Blamey
