… in Western, Western North, Central, Oti & Volta Regions
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, on Monday resumed his regional working tour to the Western, Western North, Central, Volta and Oti Regions.
The working tour’s second leg comes on the heels of similar successful ones undertaken early this year to other regions in the country.
The visit will largely afford the minister a chance to interact with farmers, input dealers, directors among others.
His first point of call was the Western North Region, where Dr. Afriyie Akoto allayed the fears of poultry farmers by stressing that government is poised to combat the bird-flu outbreaks.
According to him, the disease affected farmers in regions including Western, Western North, Central, Volta and Oti.
He disclosed that a total of 280 farms have so far been affected by the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), with 997,743 birds destroyed.
He also stated that government had paid some GH¢15,630,913 as compensation to affected poultry farmers.
To control the disease, Dr. Afriyie Akoto said government has approved an amount of GH¢43,984,018 – out of which GH¢20million has already been released.
He further noted that approval has also been given to recruit some one thousand one hundred (1,100) veterinary officers; stating that out of the 1,100, 550 have been recruited and posted.
He said the remaining 550 will be recruited and posted within a period of two years.
In this vein, the minister advised farmers against accepting birds or eggs from other farms onto their farms.
He also admonished the poultry farmers to ensure thorough washing with soap and water immediately after handling birds, urging them to confine their birds from other birds.
He called on the farmers to regularly wash poultry equipment and bury or burn dead birds, and keep waste away from the farm-house.
For his part, Director of Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD) at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Patrick Abakeh, cautioned that compensation for bird-flu-infested farms will not be paid to farmers who fail to register with the VSD. He therefore called on farmers to register their farms with the VSD. This, he explained, will give the authorities knowledge on the number of farmers and quantity of birds affected.
Additionally, he asked the farmers to acquire certification from the VSD to qualify them for compensation following the bird flu outbreaks.
From Western North, the minister will take his tour to the Western, Central, Oti and Volta Regions.
