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Ghana - Poultry industry in Brong Ahafo plunged into crisis
Poultry industry in Brong Ahafo plunged into crisis
Dormaa Ahenkro (Brong Ahafo region) 17 March 2006 - A piece of mischief indulged in
by some FM radio stations in Dormaa Ahenkro has plunged the poultry industry in the
Brong Ahafo Region into its worst crisis yet.
Broadcasting what they described as rumours, and thereby giving it currency, the FM
stations stirred panic when they alluded to an outbreak of the deadly bird flu.
Internet operators subsequently gave the FM station's reports world-wide attention and
the effect is a crashing blow to the poultry industry in the district.
As at now patronage of poultry products, especially eggs and live birds has come to a
standstill in the district even with a crate of eggs reduced from ?22,000 per crate to
?15,000 and live birds (broilers) sold for ?35,000.Customers who come from elsewhere
in the country to buy are no more coming because of the reported rumour on the FM
stations.
To avert an imminent collapse of the poultry industry in the district, which is said to be
the largest employer after the government, about 200 poultry farmers gathered at the
Dormaa District Assembly hall on Wednesday under the auspices of the assembly and the
District Poultry Farmers Association, which was attended by Mrs Anna Nyamekye, a
Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in-charge of Livestock, to find a
solution to the current situation.
As a means to let commercial sellers and consumers of poultry products know that
poultry products, especially eggs from the district, were safe and that there has not been
any outbreak of the bird flu there, and elsewhere in the country, cooked eggs were served
to all dignitaries invited to the meeting as well as all present.
In his welcoming address, Mr Kwabena Asamoa-Asare, the Dormaa District Chairman of
the Poultry Farmers Association, appealed to the government through the MoFA to grant
the association an emergency financial relief loans of ?5 billion to be shared among
members to remedy the consequences of the situation.
He also urged the government as a matter of urgency to consider the provision of a cold
storage facility like the one at the Kumasi Food Distribution Depot for the farmers in the
district to store their eggs when sales of eggs came to a standstill, as they were
experiencing now.
Mr Asamoa-Asare also suggested to the government to consider mass vaccination of
birds in the country before any possible outbreak of the disease in the country, instead of
the mass destruction of the birds, and also appoint a member from their fold to represent
them on the Poultry Board since the district could compete favourably with any region in
the country as far as the poultry industry was concerned.
Responding to the issues raised, Mrs Nyamekye assured them of the readiness of the
ministry to help them overcome the crisis, which had come about as a result of the false
information, but said she would convey their request to the government and the ministry
in Accra for prompt redress.
She reiterated that there had not been any reported case of an outbreak of bird flu in any
part of the country including the Dormaa District, and therefore appealed to the media,
especially presenters of FM stations across the country to be circumspect in their
comments on the disease in order not to create unnecessary panic, which had the potential
to collapse the country's poultry industry that would in turn have an adverse effect on the
national economy.
Squadron Leader Benjamin Anane-Asamoah (retd), the Dormaa District Chief Executive
(DCE), on his part called for an intensification of the public awareness to avert the harm
the rumour could do to the industry in the district, and a political will from MoFA to help
the farmers market their produce.
Dr A. A. Kontoh, the Dormaa District Director of Agriculture, who gave a brief history
about the poultry situation in the district said a census conducted by his outfit in June last
year on 189 poultry farms recorded 1,470 million birds, adding that the growth recorded
was unprecedented in the annals of the industry in the country.
Source: Daily Graphic
Dormaa Ahenkro (Brong Ahafo region) 17 March 2006 - A piece of mischief indulged in
by some FM radio stations in Dormaa Ahenkro has plunged the poultry industry in the
Brong Ahafo Region into its worst crisis yet.
Broadcasting what they described as rumours, and thereby giving it currency, the FM
stations stirred panic when they alluded to an outbreak of the deadly bird flu.
Internet operators subsequently gave the FM station's reports world-wide attention and
the effect is a crashing blow to the poultry industry in the district.
As at now patronage of poultry products, especially eggs and live birds has come to a
standstill in the district even with a crate of eggs reduced from ?22,000 per crate to
?15,000 and live birds (broilers) sold for ?35,000.Customers who come from elsewhere
in the country to buy are no more coming because of the reported rumour on the FM
stations.
To avert an imminent collapse of the poultry industry in the district, which is said to be
the largest employer after the government, about 200 poultry farmers gathered at the
Dormaa District Assembly hall on Wednesday under the auspices of the assembly and the
District Poultry Farmers Association, which was attended by Mrs Anna Nyamekye, a
Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in-charge of Livestock, to find a
solution to the current situation.
As a means to let commercial sellers and consumers of poultry products know that
poultry products, especially eggs from the district, were safe and that there has not been
any outbreak of the bird flu there, and elsewhere in the country, cooked eggs were served
to all dignitaries invited to the meeting as well as all present.
In his welcoming address, Mr Kwabena Asamoa-Asare, the Dormaa District Chairman of
the Poultry Farmers Association, appealed to the government through the MoFA to grant
the association an emergency financial relief loans of ?5 billion to be shared among
members to remedy the consequences of the situation.
He also urged the government as a matter of urgency to consider the provision of a cold
storage facility like the one at the Kumasi Food Distribution Depot for the farmers in the
district to store their eggs when sales of eggs came to a standstill, as they were
experiencing now.
Mr Asamoa-Asare also suggested to the government to consider mass vaccination of
birds in the country before any possible outbreak of the disease in the country, instead of
the mass destruction of the birds, and also appoint a member from their fold to represent
them on the Poultry Board since the district could compete favourably with any region in
the country as far as the poultry industry was concerned.
Responding to the issues raised, Mrs Nyamekye assured them of the readiness of the
ministry to help them overcome the crisis, which had come about as a result of the false
information, but said she would convey their request to the government and the ministry
in Accra for prompt redress.
She reiterated that there had not been any reported case of an outbreak of bird flu in any
part of the country including the Dormaa District, and therefore appealed to the media,
especially presenters of FM stations across the country to be circumspect in their
comments on the disease in order not to create unnecessary panic, which had the potential
to collapse the country's poultry industry that would in turn have an adverse effect on the
national economy.
Squadron Leader Benjamin Anane-Asamoah (retd), the Dormaa District Chief Executive
(DCE), on his part called for an intensification of the public awareness to avert the harm
the rumour could do to the industry in the district, and a political will from MoFA to help
the farmers market their produce.
Dr A. A. Kontoh, the Dormaa District Director of Agriculture, who gave a brief history
about the poultry situation in the district said a census conducted by his outfit in June last
year on 189 poultry farms recorded 1,470 million birds, adding that the growth recorded
was unprecedented in the annals of the industry in the country.
Source: Daily Graphic