Poultry farmers call for legislation to back umbrella body

Takoradi, Nov 9, GNA - Poultry farmers and related industry players have called for the promulgation of laws to back the establishment of the National Poultry Development Board (NPDB) without further delay. A legal backing for the Board is necessary to enable it to develop and implement pragmatic policies needed to address existing challenges facing the industry and revamp it to enhance economic growth, said Dr Kwabena Darko, Chairman of the NPDB.

This was contained in an address read for him at a forum of key industry players, including farmers and feed-millers, held at Takoradi on Wednesday.

The NPDB, which was inaugurated more than a year ago, is the umbrella organisation of stakeholders in the poultry industry. Dr Darko said the Board had initiated a five-year national poultry development programme, adding that its aim was to drive Ghana to become self-sufficient in poultry and related products.

=93It is our determination to work hard to ensure that resources invested in the industry is worthwhile,=94 he reiterated and called for =93greater cooperation=94 among stakeholders.

Professor George Kwame Aning, Director of Animal Research Institute, who is a member of the Board, stressed the importance of Bio-Security as part of efforts to prevent the outbreak of related diseases, especially bird flu, in the country.

He said the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers had been mandated to work with the Veterinary Services Department to decide on the level of compensation to be paid to farmers whose birds might be destroyed should there an outbreak of the avian flu.

Members of the 10-member Board that includes poultry farmers, grain producers, feed-millers, animal health specialists, researchers and bankers were introduced at the forum.