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Government has approved compensation package of about forty-four million cedis (Ghc 44 000 000.00) to poultry farmers who lost their birds as a result of recent outbreak of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) – Bird flu in the country.

The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, made this known in Parliament in response to a question by Hon Paul Apreku Twum-Barimah MP for Dormaa East.

Hon Apreku Twum-Barimah wanted to know measures being taken by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to support poultry farmers severely affected by the recent outbreak of bird flu and steps being taken to prevent the recurrence of the problem.

According to the Minister, the compensation payment will be done in a transparent manner to ensure justice for every affected poultry farmer.

Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto also said government has approved the Animal Health Bill for consideration of Parliament for effective regulation of the livestock and poultry industry if the bill is passed by the house .

The Minister further stated that approval has been given by government for the recruitment of 1,100 Vetinary professionals for deployment across the country as part of measures to help prevent the recurrence of outbreak of bird flu in the country.

He said financial clearance has also been given by government for the initial recruitment of 550 Vetinary professionals.

Recent Outbreak Stats

So far, 159 farms have been affected by bird flu nationwide, causing the death of 143,406 birds.

Some 55,227 birds have also been destroyed by the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) of the Ministry.

As of October 2021, Seven out of the 16 regions in the country had been hit by the HPAI with the remaining nine regions equally at risk due to the rapid spread of the disease.

The Bono, Upper East and Eastern regions were the latest to record cases of bird flu with some already affected regions continuing to experience new cases, particularly parts of Tema in the Greater Region, where several farms had been affected.

Out of a total number of 707,966 affected birds, the Ashanti Region had the highest number of 338,003 affected birds and 26 farms.

The Greater Accra Region, with 80 farms, had 152,913 birds affected.