The Ghana Prisons Service will soon be a beneficiary of the Ghana Skills Development Fund (GSDF) to undertake the production of 5,000 layer birds as well as the training and capacity building for prison officers and inmates to enhance their work delivery and employment opportunity in the poultry industry.
The project will be established at the Nsawan Prison farm.The production of the layer birds will be carried out using the battery cage system which is a shift from the deep litter system used by the service over the years.
The Ghana Skills Development Fund (GSDF) is a competitive fund established by the Government of Ghana in collaboration with development partners to support skills development. It focuses on the provision of entrepreneurship and micro and small enterprise support for jobs. The GSDF is the vehicle to operationalize the subcomponent of Ghana Jobs and Skill Project (GJSP) and implemented by the Commission for Technical Vocational Education and Training (CTVET).
In 2022, the fund opened four (4) Windows for applications from various fields for consideration, approval and release of funds to implement the approved projects.
The technologies to be infused in the production line to improve productivity include the installation of automatic feeders and drinkers to provide efficiency in feeds and water usage and reduce wastage. Installation of 2 tonnes feed mill and mixer, 2 electric motors to install feeds processor in the production line to prepare its own feeds from the maize it produces and other feed ingredients, this is to reduce cost of production and enhance productivity and finally the installation of organic manure processor.
The organic manure will be used to fertilize the maize which in turn will be used to feed the layer birds to reduce cost of production. The excess organic manure produced will be well packaged and labelled for sale to farmers and retailers along the crops production value chain to contribute to national food production and security.
The revenue from the sale of organic manure will be reinvested to enhance the productivity of the layer birds. The facility will serve as a training center for future training of officers and inmates from other prison establishments in the country.
The pre- disbursement discussion and contract signing for the grants took place at the conference room of the MJ Grand Hotel in Accra on Tuesday, 18th April,2023.
Present at the event were the Director of Prisons in charge of Agriculture, Mr. Hanson Adu – Awuku, the Financial Controller of the Ghana Prisons Service, DDP. Edward Armah and the Director General of the Commission for Technical Vocational Education and Training (CTVET), Dr. Fred kyei Asamoah. The rest were some executives of GSDF and representatives of private enterprises and government institutions to benefit from the fund.
