The Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF) has in a statement indicated that Ghana may be losing the fight against eradication of bird flu.
According to them, the Ministries of Health, Food and Agriculture have run out of the necessary chemicals, logistics and human resource for testing, control, eradication and prevention of bird flu in the country.
A statement signed by the Director of Communications and Business Development, Stephen Kwaku Darku said: “Government’s attempt to curb the spread of the deadly virus has hit a snag.”
The bird flu has so far affected 16 major poultry farms in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and the Volta Regions.
Almost 40,000 birds, 1,300 crates of eggs and 37 bags of feed in the three affected regions have been destroyed at the cost of nearly GHC 1,000,000.
In June, the Agric Ministry announced that there was an outbreak of bird flu in Ghana after test results of samples of reported Avian Flu cases taken to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Laboratory in Padova, Italy proved positive.
The Ministry gave the assurance that it was very capable of containing the outbreak, insisting that there was no cause for alarm. On Monday, the Ministry issued a ban on the sale and movement of live birds to prevent the spread of the disease. Despite the ban, some vendors are still selling live birds.
According to the GNAFF, they are well informed that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and its Veterinary Services Directorate are currently challenged in mobilizing the needed resources to deal with the outbreak. This is because the Ministry did not make any provision for this in its 2015 budget.
The farmers advised Ghanaians to be careful not to have a direct contact with sick birds and should also avoid slaughtering sick poultry.
“The rate of the outbreak is very alarming and it will need the immediate intervention of key stakeholders such as Parliament, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and development partners to come to the aid of farmers,” the statement said.
“Living conditions of the affected farmers has become very unbearable and we are through this press release appealing for urgent action in controlling the outbreak and as well get affected farmers some compensation for survival,” it added.
<<Print>>