Features
Bird flu: Govt support for poultry farmers
Poultry farming has become an important business in the sense that when well organised, it can defy all dangers and rake in the needed profits unimaginable to farmers.
Many young people would want to engage in poultry farming especially after tertiary education but the fear is often of the risk associated with that kind of business. Indeed, farming can be undertaken by an individual or group of people who may come together in form of joint partnership.
It requires some financial capital which may not be obtained easily by individuals or even groups of people who agree to come together for that purpose. For this reason, they may have no choice but go to the bank to seek financial credit.
GOOD BUSINESS PLANS
Those who are fortunate or are able to provide good business plans receive the assistance they need from the banks. It may not be easy to get this form of assistance from the banks because of the risk associated with poultry farming.
During this business, there is always the need for the farmers to pay great attention to the birds from the beginning to the end. They’ll need to make sure the poultry is kept away from any kind of diseases and that the needed drugs are also provided for the birds to make them healthy and strong.
As a result of poultry farming, certain individuals have become very rich but the point must be made that it is not easy to make huge profits as a result of poultry farming as a business. What this means is that poultry farming is a good business venture but the farmers will always need to be very careful to ensure that they do not lose their birds.
GOOD SUPPLEMENT
The output from poultry is good in the sense that it supplements produce from crop farming. Crop farming provides foodstuffs which may be consumed by the population but we would need to combine this consumption with meat, fish or some other form of items like poultry. The benefits of poultry output are numerous. In the first place, it provides fresh chicken which is combined with foodstuffs and consumed by people. This ensures healthy growth of the body for both children and adults with the exception of those who are vegetarians. For non-vegetarians, poultry serves as a good source of protein for the body.
Apart from the poultry itself, another benefit comes in form of eggs. The eggs produced in this way serve as a source of business for many people in the country. The eggs serve as business items for many women who rely on such produce to fry or boil them for consumers. Other individuals also combine the eggs with the food they prepare and process them for consumption by people at the restaurant or other places where finished food is sold.
MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD
All this shows that the poultry business is very important and serves as a means of livelihood for a number of people. It is for this reason that the Government of Ghana is doing all it can to protect poultry farmers in the country and where necessary, support them with financial returns.
In spite of all this, the poultry business can be very risky in the sense that poultry farmers can easily lose their capital when the birds become attacked by Bird’s Flu or some other disease. This explains why poultry farmers are always very close to the health experts who have been trained in a professional manner to provide assistance to them as and when the need arises. It is for this reason that veterinary doctors are ever available and made ready to come to the assistance of our poultry farmers.
BIRD FLU OUTBREAK
A few months back, Ghana began to experience Bird Flu and other diseases in some parts of the country. Poultry farms in the Greater Accra Region as well as Ashanti and other places became affected but veterinary doctors went to their aid to bring the situation under control. However, great losses were made due to the slaughter of the birds that were suffering from the disease.
In view of this development, the government was forced to make money available to support the poultry farmers who lost their birds as a result of the infection of the disease on their farms. Those who had the birds destroyed were given certificates as proof. Government has already made available GH¢40 million to support the farmers who experienced losses. Out of the GH¢40 million promised, about GH¢21 million is now available for distribution to poultry farmers who can provide evidence of certificates for the destruction of their birds when they contracted diseases.
SALE OF HEALTHY BIRDS
We must always make sure that animals from the poultry farms are strong and healthy because if we are able to sell the healthy birds to consumers, we are likely to make far more money than would be the case when we are compensated by government. Half a loaf is better than none so the GH¢40 million provided by government as compensation would fulfil a good purpose. It will encourage our farmers to keep working hard despite the risk involved.
We commend government for this support especially at this time when we are now recovering from COVID-19 amid economic difficulties that have characterised many business transactions in the country.
Diseases that affect our poultry keep coming in to affect the poultry business and when we deal with them, they go away only to come back again at some time. The poultry farmers and the poultry health experts together with government must collaborate to work hard to ensure that such diseases are brought under total control and where possible prevented from affecting the poultry farms. This is what will help the poultry farming business to flourish well in this country.
Contact email/whatsApp address of author:
Pradmat2013@gmail.com (0553318911)
By Dr Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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