Business News of Sunday, 18 July 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2021-07-18
GAFA is calling on government to swiftly come to their aid to make them remain in business
• There’s a looming total shutdown in the poultry industry
• This was made known by the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association
• They are calling on government to swiftly come to their aid to make them remain in business
Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association (GAFA), Michael Nyarko Ampem, has noted that the outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza disease, also known as Bird Flu, has doubled the hardship they are currently facing.
The outbreak of the bird flu comes days after poultry farmers complained about the unavailability of maize, soya, and wheat.
Mr. Ampem noted that poultry farmers are going through a tough time now because of these two major challenges.
Speaking on the outbreak of the bird flu in an interview with CitiNews, he said, “It is a double blow because we are reeling under the unavailability of maize and other resources for production and then this [outbreak] comes in. It is a big blow and really going to affect the way we do things because the government said importation of day-old chicks from neighbouring countries that have been affected has been banned, so it is going to affect the already precarious situation and make it worse. It is a not pleasant time for poultry farmers.”
The President of the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association has said government should pay critical attention to the poultry industry to save over 1,000 businesses from collapsing.
He also said the shortage of poultry feed needs to be fixed as soon as possible to keep them in business.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in a press release announced the ban on the importation of poultry products into the country from neighbouring countries where the prevalence of bird flu has been confirmed.
It follows a confirmed outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the Greater Accra, Central and Volta Regions.