The United Sates Department of Agriculture (USDA)-sponsored Ghana Poultry Project (GPP) has inaugurated Community-Based Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) in six communities in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality in the Greater Accra Region.

The Deputy Director in charge of Regulatory and Food Safety Unit of Greater Accra Regional Veterinary Office, Mr. Joseph Kofi Abuh who introduced the CAHWs called on the workers to exhibit some level of decency and commitment in their line of duty.

Speaking on the inclined benefits of the CAHWs’ work, he explained that if the Community-Based Animal Health Workers should execute their mandates effectively, poultry farmers in the municipality would benefit immensely from their expert advice. This, he mentioned, would help reduce the dangers domestic or local poultry farmers encounter in their production activities.

Mr. Joseph Kofi Abuh further explained that the narrative of domestic farmers losing their birds to the Newcastle disease would be a thing of the past as the CAHWs discharge their duties adeptly, adding that, the CAHWs deployed into the various communities have been given the needed vaccines and tools to help fight the Newcastle disease in domestic poultry farms.

The Ghana Poultry Project Coordinator, Mr. Christian Koduah, on his part, stated that about 50 CAHWs have been trained across some eight selected districts, which includes Ga East, Ga West, Shai-Osudoku, Ningo-Prampram, and Kpone-Katamanso amongst other districts within the Greater Accra Region. He reminded the personnel that they would need the assistance of opinion leaders within the various communities to be able to perform their duties successfully. He further added that the project would also unwind entrepreneurial prospects in the CAHWs as they work to pay back their supplied items which would in turn keep them in business.

The Community-Based Animal Health Workers were given bicycles, two bags of poultry feed, Newcastle vaccines, a weighing scale, uniforms, and vaccine carriers to help them carry out their mandates.

Background

Livestock keeping supports the financial, human, and social capital needs of about 70% of the world’s poor in developing countries through direct income provision for the following: farming activities, medical care, finance, and education, as well as serving as a social safety-net. Yet, poor livestock keepers in marginal areas often lack access to affordable clinical and preventive animal health services.

Providing quality and sustainable animal health services to livestock dependent communities is a key to reducing economic losses and human health risks associated with animal diseases. As a result, the Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) have been promoted to fill the gap in providing animal health services to the poor.

The USDA-sponsored Ghana Poultry Project intends to increase targeted sector commercial performance by building coordination between firms, promoting the adoption of quality standards, strengthening business planning and market-penetration strategies, and reinforcing buyer-supplier linkages. The five-year Ghana Poultry Program (GPP), funded by the United Sates Department of Agriculture (USDA) and implemented by ACDI/VOCA and TechnoServe, has been established to increase the competitiveness of the domestic production and processing of poultry meat and eggs.

The five-year project will increase sales by 35 percent and will link 35,000-50,000 maize and soybean producing houses, as well as 10,000 poultry producing households, to the poultry supply chain.