None of the over two thousand members of the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association has received compensation following an outbreak of bird flu that affected their farms sometime in July last year.
This development comes despite the fact that the government in January this year announced a GH¢14 million compensation for farmers whose livestock were affected by the outbreak.
There have been reoccurrences of the outbreak of bird flu since July last year. The situation has led to the destruction of over eleven thousand birds.
The Ministry of Agric last year announced the government would compensate affected farmers by partially covering the losses of farmers whose activities have been affected by the disease.
The government on the 26th of January 2021 confirmed it had released an amount of GH¢44 million to contain the spread of the disease in the country. This was disclosed by the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Akoto Afriyie. The allocation of the money was part of other major interventions to help curb the spread of the disease.
However, in an interview with Citi Business News, Board Member of the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association, Kwame Ntim Duduo, said farmers are yet to receive their monies.
“That still remains an issue and in my association, not a single member that got affected has been compensated as of now.”
We followed up last week and the feedback we had from the veterinary services department is that they are still working on it. We believe that it is taking too long a time, and the farmers are in despair. They don’t know what is happening, really it’s an issue we believe the veterinary services department should act on with all the urgency that it deserves. So no farmer has been compensated in my association of about two thousand people that got affected.”
Source: citibusinessnews.com