Newcastle disease still a threat to poultry production- Tia Sugri

A Deputy Minister for Agriculture in charge of Poultry and Livestock, Dr. Tia Sugri has called for concerted efforts at addressing the ‘Newcastle Disease’, which still remains a major challenge to poultry production in Ghana.

Dr. Tia Sugri, Deputy Minister for Agriculture in charge of Poultry and Livestock

“One of the major challenges forcing the productivity of village poultry is Newcastle Disease. The resource derivable from the village chickens cannot be fully utilized unless this disease in controlled”, argued Dr. Sugri.

 

The deputy minister made this call at the official launch of VACNADA project at Tamale recently. The VACNADA project is an initiative introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture to reduce the impact of Newcastle disease in the poultry industry.

The disease according to Dr. Sugri is responsible for most of the morbidity and mortality in poultry throughout the country.

“In view of the economic importance of village chickens in Ghana, indicators are that local poultry farmers wouldwelcome Newcastle Disease vaccinations capable of protecting their flock”, noted Dr. Sugri.

The project is an African Union (AU) to reduce the impact of neglected but important diseases of ruminants and poultry especially; Pestes des Petis Ruminants (PPR) and Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP) for small ruminants, Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia for cattle and Newcastle disease in poultry.

One of the purposes of the project, according to Dr. Sugri is to use appropriate vaccination skills that could be taken up and used by local farmers.

During the project period, Dr. Sugri said the local farmers would be taught the knowledge and skills needed for effective participation in preventing and controlling Newcastle Disease using Tolerant I-2 vaccine.

The said project, according to Dr. Sugri would be implemented in Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin since there was active movement of live poultry and people across these countries.

“This project is a genuine example of regional cooperation with Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin to control Newcastle Disease in the sub-region”.

Dr. Sugri said Ghana as a beneficiary country would receive a sum of three hundred and thirty thousand, nine hundred and thirty two euros (€330,932) in three tranches.

He said the Veterinary Services Directorate has already received the first pre-financing tranche amounting to €224,117 for the control of the Newcastle Disease in Ghana.

The VACNADA project, Dr. Tia said would focus on free mass vaccination of village chicken against the Newcastle Disease using a thermo Tolerant I-2 vaccine.

“The control of the disease would thus increase rural poultry production resulting in a positive impact on household food security both in increased dietary intake and in income generation”, he noted adding “this project will definitely enhance the diagnostic capacity of Newcastle Disease in the field and at the Central Veterinary Laboratory, and raise awareness amongst technical staff, producers, and live bird market operators in the targeted areas”.

For sometime now, the Poultry Industry in Ghana has faced internal and external challenges. The major internal factor is the high cost of production and the major external factor identified is the unfair competition from highly subsidized imported chicken, causing sale prices below costs of production to the local producer.

As a way of long term intervention into the high cost of poultry feed, the Government, according to Dr. Sugri has invested a lot into the mechanization and expansion of production of grains and cereals.

“These interventions have been so successful that for the first time in many years, the World Food Program has procured and exported 5000mt of maize from Ghana to famine stricken Niger Republic. This has not impacted negatively on Ghana’s cereal stock or on prices. With this, poultry producers can now acquire poultry feed at very reasonable prices to increase production”, said Dr. Sugri.

Dr. Sugri, however, urged all stakeholders in the poultry industry to identify some improved technologies and suggest appropriate development strategies for the village chicken production which has the tendency to transform the rural poultry sector from subsistence to a more economically productive base.

“Availabe statistics indicate that the per capital consumption of meat in Ghana and other sub-Saharan countries of 12kg is very low, compared to about 89kg for Europe. This emphasizes the urgency for us to support livestock and poultry development in Ghana”, he argued.