Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto
GOVERNMENT, through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, has released GH¢20,105,718.03 as part of the GH¢44 million budget approved as payment of compensation to poultry farmers whose farms were hit by the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza disease popularly known as Bird Flu.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto at a presser in Accra.
He revealed that the government had also approved the immediate recruitment and deployment of some 550 veterinary professionals; as well as endorsed the procurement of vehicles, motorbikes and laboratory equipment for the smooth operations of the Veterinary Services Directorate.
The amount, he explained, would be spent on decontaminating and disposal materials, compensation to affected farmers and any outstanding compensation from 2015 to 2018.
This would also involve the roll-out of a communication plan on bio-security certification and management practices certified by the Veterinary Services Directorate & Animal Production Directorate.
He therefore urged all farmers to avail themselves for the biometric registration and certification exercise which is currently ongoing so to be captured in the comprehensive database of poultry farmers in the country.
“This is all part of modernizing poultry farming in the country and enhancing the accuracy of data for planning, targeting for support and payment or compensations when the need arises in the future.
As it stands now, there is a proliferation of poultry farmers, majority of which are small scale backyard poultry farms.
In times of disease outbreaks such as the current HPAl (Bird Flu) outbreak, these small scale farmers become vulnerable and therefore agents for the spread of the disease”, he remarked.
The Minister also added that, “Farms that do not receive certification will not be compensated by government during future outbreaks”.
As it stands now, 10 out of the 16 regions have so far been affected with about 701,955 cases so far recorded.
By Daniel Bampoe