Sunyani-Ghana, Mar. 25, GNA – Dr. Geoffrey Akabua, a Deputy Director of Veterinary Services in- Charge of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety has advised veterinary officers to rise above the unpleasant attitudes of poultry farmers to discharge their duties efficiently.
He further urged staff to exert their authorities on farmers by persistently insisting for them to be compliant and do “the right things,” saying through that the farmers would realise “your importance.
Dr Akabua gave the advice when he was speaking at a sensitisation workshop for more than 40 veterinary officers, experts and farmers drawn from municipalities and districts within the Bono Region on Thursday in Sunyani
Organised jointly by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Veterinary Services Directorate, the workshop aimed at updating participants’ knowledge about Bird Flu to awaken their consciousness and readiness to employ preventive methods against “the disease which is airborne and cannot be predicted.
Dr Akabua regretted “some poultry farmers are not cooperative because they are not ready to change from their old ways of doing things,” citing ”they keep on saying I started the poultry business long before you were born, you are not the one to advise me”.
Another trend impeding the progress of the industry, he added “is farmers trusting colleague farmers more than veterinary technicians” because some claimed to have been practicing for many years and had acquired enough experience and other farmers thus engaged them for advice instead of the trained veterinarians and ended up copying and multiplying the very industrial bad practices.
Dr. Akabua therefore encouraged the participants to educate farmers and the public in their jurisdictions and localities about the disease to minimise its occurrence.
Dr Donald Joachim Darko, the Bono Regional Director of the Veterinary Services Department, said the disease was gradually gaining roots in the poultry industry, saying it was essential to constantly engage and educate all stakeholders in the industry on its dangers and destructive nature to help streamline and improve poultry production in the country.
Mr Bagbara Tanko, the Head of Public Relations at the MoFA said the government from July to December 2021 paid GhC15,630,913.33 as compensation to some affected farmers in six affected regions.
He said the Ministry was awaiting the release of additional funds to complete payment to the remaining farmers as 280 poultry farms were affected by the flu, while 997,743 birds were destroyed.
Mr. Tanko said the government was using avenues such as compensation payment and staff recruitment to strengthen the work of the Veterinary Services.
