[ 2016-02-25 ]

Gov´t pays compensation to poultry farmers
More than GH¢1 million has been paid by the
government to 25 poultry farmers as compensation,
following the destruction of 76,326 of birds that
were affected by the avian influenza last year.

The affected birds were culled to control the
spread of the disease.
The government paid GH¢1,067,355, representing 90
per cent of the total current market value of
GH¢1,185,928, for the birds that were destroyed
by the staff of the Ministry of Food and
Agriculture.

The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr
Hanna Bisiw, made this known at a multi-sectorial
stakeholders workshop to train people on how to
contain any future outbreak of avian influenza and
other emergency diseases.

The training was done with technical support from
the United States Department of Agriculture and
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(USDA-APHIS).

Dr Bisiw said Parliament’s approval of GH¢11
million for emergencies and other contingencies,
including sending experts abroad for enhanced
training, had positioned Ghana to fight any such
diseases in the future.

She added that the government recognised the
critical contribution of the poultry industry as a
catalyst for economic transformation.

The Area Director, West and Central Africa,
USDA-APHIS, Dr Cynthia Duerr, commended Ghana for
taking steps to prevent a recurrence of the
disease.

She stated that it was important to collaborate
with other sub-regional countries, especially
Nigeria and Burkina Faso, to prevent infected
birds from entering the country.

Source - Daily Graphic

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