Investigating Poultry Interventions in Ghana and Senegal

The present paper primarily aims to compare different key factors behind the high cost of production in the Ghanaian poultry value chain and investigate the possible scenarios to reduce it. In the case of Senegal, the poultry ban is the major policy intervention in the poultry market. Since 2005, the Senegalese poultry sector has been experiencing a trade ban on poultry imports to prevent the Avian Influenzas outbreak. We evaluate the potential effects of the ban policy on the performance of poultry farms using a comparative analysis between Senegal and Ghana. Given the scope of our analysis and data availabilities, we use different methods to evaluate the policies of interest. To begin with, we develop a spatial partial equilibrium model including different stages to assess the spillover effects of feed costs on the poultry meat market. Figure 1 presents the input and product flow in a typical poultry value chain in Ghana from farm to home. The model is based on a spatial partial equilibrium model developed by Samuelson (1952) and extended by Takayama, and Judge (1964). The final calibrated model is applied to investigate the impact of feed processing capacity and efficiency on poultry meat production. In our analysis, the main advantage of using a partial equilibrium approach compared to general equilibrium is that it permits analysis within the value chain context including feed conversion ratio and processing details. Additionally, it allows us to assess the effects of policies at price levels.