AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
Despite the compensation paid to poultry farmers by the Federal Government and efforts made by international and local organisations to check the outbreak of Avian Influenza, investigations still show that rural farmers are more exposed to the disease. Hilda Okoisor, who visited some rural farms, writes
From recent media deductions on the effects of Avian Influenza (AI), it has been noted that the issue affects the nation in many ways. Amongst these are its effects on agriculture, economy, environment and health of both animals and humans. AI, which is also known as the H5N1 virus, causes 'bird flu' and it occurs naturally among wild birds such as wild geese, storks, egrets, herons and falcons. These birds carry this virus but do not get sick, but if transmitted to some domesticated birds like chickens, turkeys and ducks, they get very sick and can die from the virus. The virus can be excreted from the eyes, nose and mouth of infected birds.
The virus can remain viable in droppings for long periods spreading among birds and animals though ingestion or inhalation of the droppings. Transmission of the virus from flock to flock is usually by humans. It can be spread by manure, equipment, vehicles, egg flats, crates and people whose clothing or shoes come in contact with the virus.
According to UNICEF reports, affected communities and families in Nigeria mostly felt the impact. An AI socio-economic impact study conducted by UNDP in July 2006, concluded that there had been significant socio-economic impact of AI on rural village poultry and on backyard and medium scale farmers who constitute the bulk of poultry producers in the country.
The initial reaction caused by the announcement of AI outbreak led to an initial drop in consumption of poultry products resulting in a sharp decline in sales. Other related industries and economic activities such as feed milling, poultry drugs and vaccine sales, grain marketing and the retailing products were also adversely affected.
Mrs. Cecilia Godona is a trader that sells poultry and poultry feeds at the Badagry market, she explained to THISDAY how AI affected her trade. She repeatedly made references to her empty baskets saying that the baskets used to be full of chicken but is now empty as a result of the losses she suffered when the news of AI broke out last year.
Usually, she said, traders in the Badagry market supply poultry to the Benin Republic through the border but as a result of the news outbreak, people from across the borders refused to have anything to do with their poultry. Consequently, she continued, a rally had to be organised to show the Benin people that there was nothing wrong with eating their poultry. Mrs. Godona said they had a truck packed with people, where they were fried and ate both chickens and eggs.
Though, she said people have started buying chicken now, she has still not recovered from her loss. Now, Godona relies on the chicken feeds she sells for her daily income.
Another trader, Mrs. Esther Agon, expressed her losses and estimated it into thousands of Naira. She said that she believes that AI is mythical saying that she believes that God is angry with them, thus the disease is a punishment for them. Agon said that she has been selling poultry in the past twenty years and she had never experienced such a disease outbreak. When the news broke out, she said, she lost a lot of money as she had to throw away most of her poultry and eggs as well.
She also added that at the initial outbreak of the news there was great influx of frozen chicken for sale because people resorted to buying this frozen products, as a result, they kept on losing money.
UNICEF reports that when the news of the Avian Influenza broke out in February 2006, the government of Nigeria confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza on a commercial farm in Kaduna State and immediately took emergency measures to control the outbreak of the source. These measures include, stamping out of the affected area, imposing restrictions on movement of birds within the country, halting importation of poultry products and surveillance from one hundred and seventy nation wide surveillance points across the country.
However, the report said, the implementation of these measures has proven difficult. It added that as at June 1, 2007 AI has swept across Nigeria affecting over 84 local governments areas in 24 states including the Federal Capital Territory.
On the losses the farmers and poultry industry suffered, particularly during the initial outbreak of AI in February 2006, Dr. Babatunde Bello, the Deputy Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria, (PAN), Lagos State stated that the nation appeared completely un-prepared. The practitioners, producers and the people of the poultry trade in the nation, he added, were also very unprepared. "It had a devastating effect on us because the media also went out there and gave a big hype to the news making people just lay off poultry products.
?This severe market shock affected the poultry economy and farmers suffered a lot. We estimated the loss in the production aspect of the country to be about twenty billion naira. While in the trade, it was around the same value. The trade here includes the people who sell and process agric poultry as well as the indigenous local poultry. Also eggs were abandoned and there was quite a number of farmers who virtually lost all their investments", he said.
Many of them, he said, still cannot come back to the business. Those who came back, he said, had only about half the capacity of what they used to have. "To further aggravate this situation, there was a scarcity of day old chicks which affected restocking. But so far we are recovering little by little, and we thank the government for reviewing the compensation.
?This gesture has affected poultry farmers positively and it would also encourage poultry farmers to participate more in the control measures of AI, because many farmers were not particularly enthusiastic to report and be part of the stamp out policy of the government. But we are happy now that the compensation is motivating, we enjoy it and we are sure that all farmers would cooperate to make sure that the disease is stamped out in Nigeria", he said.
Advising stakeholders, local farmers, commercial farmers, indigenous farmer amongst others, Bello said there is a need to make certain improvements and changes. He noted that this could be through general behaviours in operational procedures. Mostly, he said, farmers need to improve their bio-security measures both internally and externally, which is mainly environmental changes.
"There has to be a lot of cleanliness. Definitely, if they improve their environmental hygiene and stop allowing debris and manure to pollute their environment, it goes back to improving the general environmental health.
Also, this goes back to preventing to a very large extent the introduction of AI into their farm. We had a programme some time ago, where farmers were enjoined on a number of things that they are supposed to do. When one touches poultry they unsure of, they should always wash their hands with soap to ensure safety.
Fccording to the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports, to date, most human cases have been limited to people who have had contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces. Many of these cases have occurred in rural or suburban areas where households keep small poultry flocks.
These behaviours, UN reports said, include having people protect their healthy flocks from the introduction of new poultry by quarantining new poultry for 14 days, separating ducks from chickens, keeping poultry in a closed building, cleaning up yards and coops daily to remove droppings, washing their hands with soap before and after handling birds, and cleaning off their shoes before entering their homes.
If possible, it added, children and pregnant mothers should be kept away from poultry and poultry parts and should not handle eggs. If poultry appears sick, people should not touch it or handle it, but rather call the local authorities.
If people must handle a dead bird, they should wear protective equipment and clothes, including gloves and place the dead birds in a bag for proper disposal.
While visiting the market and poultry farms in Badagry, this reporter noted that though there is much awareness of AI, there are still some precautionary hygienic measures that have been taken by both farmers and traders alike.
At the market for instance, it was noted that the location of the poultry cage was too close to the other market sellers particularly those selling foodstuff. Also there was no bio-security measure taken by the traders. There was no breeding space for the chicken as they were all cooped together in different cages.
Mrs. Agon met some security measures that are supposed to be taken. For instance, she sweeps around the chicken cage about twice a day. She said that she usually knows when a bird is ill and immediately separate them.
Also at a particular commercial poultry farm in Badagry, the owner was not available to speak to THISDAY. However, observation from a distance showed that precautionary measure on the farm was certainly not in tune with the hygiene standards for prevention of the transmission of Avian Influenza. The farm workers were moving around half naked, there was presence of wild birds hovering all over the farm and there was surface waste disposal.
Another farm though had taken certain bio-security measures such as having foot dips for people going into the poultry, proper waste disposal as well as properly dressed workers. The farm still had migratory birds hovering ahead and part of the poultry cage was broken. The effect of this been that it would allow for these migratory birds to share space with the chickens, thus infecting them.
Mr. MacArthur Hill, Communication Officer, UNICEF said that within the UN system, UNICEF is responsible for communication. The target group, he said, are the children and women. "Through the public enlightenment committees, we have community dialogues where we bring families and communities together. We carry along health and agricultural specialists, and then we sit down in a very informal manner and have people ask questions or disagree with what they understand or what they do not understand, their misgivings and misperceptions.
?When we cannot answer any questions we refer them to our specialist. Thus, our basic focus is on helping people understand the issues of Avian Influenza, how it affects them, the family, the school amongst others. We have also produced targeted materials that can be used in schools, so that children can know how to wash their hands also to know what kind of preventive measures they can take. We have done materials for religious and traditional leaders in line with their own roles in their various communities. This has been done to enable them educate their people using their spear of influence", he added.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=82642
From recent media deductions on the effects of Avian Influenza (AI), it has been noted that the issue affects the nation in many ways. Amongst these are its effects on agriculture, economy, environment and health of both animals and humans. AI, which is also known as the H5N1 virus, causes 'bird flu' and it occurs naturally among wild birds such as wild geese, storks, egrets, herons and falcons. These birds carry this virus but do not get sick, but if transmitted to some domesticated birds like chickens, turkeys and ducks, they get very sick and can die from the virus. The virus can be excreted from the eyes, nose and mouth of infected birds.
The virus can remain viable in droppings for long periods spreading among birds and animals though ingestion or inhalation of the droppings. Transmission of the virus from flock to flock is usually by humans. It can be spread by manure, equipment, vehicles, egg flats, crates and people whose clothing or shoes come in contact with the virus.
According to UNICEF reports, affected communities and families in Nigeria mostly felt the impact. An AI socio-economic impact study conducted by UNDP in July 2006, concluded that there had been significant socio-economic impact of AI on rural village poultry and on backyard and medium scale farmers who constitute the bulk of poultry producers in the country.
The initial reaction caused by the announcement of AI outbreak led to an initial drop in consumption of poultry products resulting in a sharp decline in sales. Other related industries and economic activities such as feed milling, poultry drugs and vaccine sales, grain marketing and the retailing products were also adversely affected.
Mrs. Cecilia Godona is a trader that sells poultry and poultry feeds at the Badagry market, she explained to THISDAY how AI affected her trade. She repeatedly made references to her empty baskets saying that the baskets used to be full of chicken but is now empty as a result of the losses she suffered when the news of AI broke out last year.
Usually, she said, traders in the Badagry market supply poultry to the Benin Republic through the border but as a result of the news outbreak, people from across the borders refused to have anything to do with their poultry. Consequently, she continued, a rally had to be organised to show the Benin people that there was nothing wrong with eating their poultry. Mrs. Godona said they had a truck packed with people, where they were fried and ate both chickens and eggs.
Though, she said people have started buying chicken now, she has still not recovered from her loss. Now, Godona relies on the chicken feeds she sells for her daily income.
Another trader, Mrs. Esther Agon, expressed her losses and estimated it into thousands of Naira. She said that she believes that AI is mythical saying that she believes that God is angry with them, thus the disease is a punishment for them. Agon said that she has been selling poultry in the past twenty years and she had never experienced such a disease outbreak. When the news broke out, she said, she lost a lot of money as she had to throw away most of her poultry and eggs as well.
She also added that at the initial outbreak of the news there was great influx of frozen chicken for sale because people resorted to buying this frozen products, as a result, they kept on losing money.
UNICEF reports that when the news of the Avian Influenza broke out in February 2006, the government of Nigeria confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza on a commercial farm in Kaduna State and immediately took emergency measures to control the outbreak of the source. These measures include, stamping out of the affected area, imposing restrictions on movement of birds within the country, halting importation of poultry products and surveillance from one hundred and seventy nation wide surveillance points across the country.
However, the report said, the implementation of these measures has proven difficult. It added that as at June 1, 2007 AI has swept across Nigeria affecting over 84 local governments areas in 24 states including the Federal Capital Territory.
On the losses the farmers and poultry industry suffered, particularly during the initial outbreak of AI in February 2006, Dr. Babatunde Bello, the Deputy Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria, (PAN), Lagos State stated that the nation appeared completely un-prepared. The practitioners, producers and the people of the poultry trade in the nation, he added, were also very unprepared. "It had a devastating effect on us because the media also went out there and gave a big hype to the news making people just lay off poultry products.
?This severe market shock affected the poultry economy and farmers suffered a lot. We estimated the loss in the production aspect of the country to be about twenty billion naira. While in the trade, it was around the same value. The trade here includes the people who sell and process agric poultry as well as the indigenous local poultry. Also eggs were abandoned and there was quite a number of farmers who virtually lost all their investments", he said.
Many of them, he said, still cannot come back to the business. Those who came back, he said, had only about half the capacity of what they used to have. "To further aggravate this situation, there was a scarcity of day old chicks which affected restocking. But so far we are recovering little by little, and we thank the government for reviewing the compensation.
?This gesture has affected poultry farmers positively and it would also encourage poultry farmers to participate more in the control measures of AI, because many farmers were not particularly enthusiastic to report and be part of the stamp out policy of the government. But we are happy now that the compensation is motivating, we enjoy it and we are sure that all farmers would cooperate to make sure that the disease is stamped out in Nigeria", he said.
Advising stakeholders, local farmers, commercial farmers, indigenous farmer amongst others, Bello said there is a need to make certain improvements and changes. He noted that this could be through general behaviours in operational procedures. Mostly, he said, farmers need to improve their bio-security measures both internally and externally, which is mainly environmental changes.
"There has to be a lot of cleanliness. Definitely, if they improve their environmental hygiene and stop allowing debris and manure to pollute their environment, it goes back to improving the general environmental health.
Also, this goes back to preventing to a very large extent the introduction of AI into their farm. We had a programme some time ago, where farmers were enjoined on a number of things that they are supposed to do. When one touches poultry they unsure of, they should always wash their hands with soap to ensure safety.
Fccording to the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports, to date, most human cases have been limited to people who have had contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces. Many of these cases have occurred in rural or suburban areas where households keep small poultry flocks.
These behaviours, UN reports said, include having people protect their healthy flocks from the introduction of new poultry by quarantining new poultry for 14 days, separating ducks from chickens, keeping poultry in a closed building, cleaning up yards and coops daily to remove droppings, washing their hands with soap before and after handling birds, and cleaning off their shoes before entering their homes.
If possible, it added, children and pregnant mothers should be kept away from poultry and poultry parts and should not handle eggs. If poultry appears sick, people should not touch it or handle it, but rather call the local authorities.
If people must handle a dead bird, they should wear protective equipment and clothes, including gloves and place the dead birds in a bag for proper disposal.
While visiting the market and poultry farms in Badagry, this reporter noted that though there is much awareness of AI, there are still some precautionary hygienic measures that have been taken by both farmers and traders alike.
At the market for instance, it was noted that the location of the poultry cage was too close to the other market sellers particularly those selling foodstuff. Also there was no bio-security measure taken by the traders. There was no breeding space for the chicken as they were all cooped together in different cages.
Mrs. Agon met some security measures that are supposed to be taken. For instance, she sweeps around the chicken cage about twice a day. She said that she usually knows when a bird is ill and immediately separate them.
Also at a particular commercial poultry farm in Badagry, the owner was not available to speak to THISDAY. However, observation from a distance showed that precautionary measure on the farm was certainly not in tune with the hygiene standards for prevention of the transmission of Avian Influenza. The farm workers were moving around half naked, there was presence of wild birds hovering all over the farm and there was surface waste disposal.
Another farm though had taken certain bio-security measures such as having foot dips for people going into the poultry, proper waste disposal as well as properly dressed workers. The farm still had migratory birds hovering ahead and part of the poultry cage was broken. The effect of this been that it would allow for these migratory birds to share space with the chickens, thus infecting them.
Mr. MacArthur Hill, Communication Officer, UNICEF said that within the UN system, UNICEF is responsible for communication. The target group, he said, are the children and women. "Through the public enlightenment committees, we have community dialogues where we bring families and communities together. We carry along health and agricultural specialists, and then we sit down in a very informal manner and have people ask questions or disagree with what they understand or what they do not understand, their misgivings and misperceptions.
?When we cannot answer any questions we refer them to our specialist. Thus, our basic focus is on helping people understand the issues of Avian Influenza, how it affects them, the family, the school amongst others. We have also produced targeted materials that can be used in schools, so that children can know how to wash their hands also to know what kind of preventive measures they can take. We have done materials for religious and traditional leaders in line with their own roles in their various communities. This has been done to enable them educate their people using their spear of influence", he added.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=82642