The Berekum West District of the Bono Region is not experiencing a bird flu outbreak, the District Director of Agriculture, Frederick Kwasi Danso, has disclosed. His statement follows media reports suggesting that the death of several birds at a local poultry farm was caused by bird flu.

Speaking to the media, he clarified that the deaths were not linked to any disease outbreak but rather poor farm management and inadequate feed.

He added, “We don’t have bird flu in Berekum West. As I speak to you, we only have a farmer who brought day-olds and couldn’t feed them. He brought 10,000 to the district, precisely to a community known as Amomaso.

“The farmer was overwhelmed. He is a new farmer and he brought broilers. Broilers consume the highest amount of feed. The amount of feed the birds consumed in two weeks overwhelmed him and instead of seeking other alternatives to raise funds to feed the birds, he relaxed. He is based in Accra. When his employees complained about the quantity, he thought they were lying. Meanwhile he had not paid his employees for a whole month so they abandoned the farm”.

Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, is a viral disease that mainly affects birds, especially poultry like chickens, turkeys, and ducks. Infected birds may show signs such as weakness, swollen heads, breathing difficulties, reduced egg production, or may die suddenly.

Between 2015 and 2018 some Ghanaian farmers incurred losses due to a Bird Flu outbreak. As per the 2022 Auditor General’s Report, a substantial portion of the earmarked compensation funds, exceeding GH¢1.8 million, remains unutilized in the Ministry’s account.

While the Ministry argues that the funds are undistributed due to a lack of necessary details from affected farmers, the Public Accounts Committee, led by Chairman James Klutse Avedzi, has mandated the Agriculture Ministry to identify the affected farmers and disburse the funds within the next month.

During a Public Accounts Committee session, Avedzi instructed, “I am sure you have a list of the farms that are affected and a certificate for destroying the birds as well. All that you need is to have the affected farmers’ bank details to do the transfer, and I am sure that you have the contact details of these farmers.

“So we are giving you one month to disburse the monies to them quickly. Call them so that they will give their bank details so you can do the transfer for them.”

In an unrelated development, the President John Dramani Mahama government has launched one of its flagship programmes, “Nkoko Nkitinkiti”.

The Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative, which is also labelled as ‘backyard poultry programme’ by the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, is set to empower about 60,000 households in all the 276 constituencies nationwide to produce 3 million birds.

According to him, the programme is targeted at single mothers, Persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable people in the community during an address on October 16.

Ahead of the launch, Mr Opoku clarified that “the government’s Nkoko Nkitinkiti policy, which is to be launched, does not cover commercial poultry farmers. The policy is purposely for households. While the government is starting with the Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative, the public must understand that it is just one aspect of the government’s poultry production plans. We have another program under which we are targeting existing poultry farmers.”

However, he noted that the government has other policy directives that will be rolled out to support large-scale and medium-scale poultry farmers.

The policy is part of the broader Feed Ghana strategy and includes training, access to feed, and improved breeding stock. Originally set for July, it was delayed to October for stakeholder engagement. By reducing the $300 million spent annually on poultry imports, the initiative seeks to revitalise agriculture, empower youth, and strengthen Ghana’s self-sufficiency in protein production.

The Minister for Food and Agriculture stated that technical staff from the ministry are engaging stakeholders in the poultry industry to gather data and information on how best the policy can be rolled out, noting that the information received from the field officers will guide them as to who gets to be selected to benefit from the policy rollout.

“What we are doing now is dealing with backyard poultry farming. That has nothing to do with the commercial farmers. It has nothing to do with the commercial farmers. In fact, the technical people are already in the field. We are selecting the beneficiaries based on their capacities in their various places.

“So, in Bono Ahafo, for instance, the people have submitted their reports. They have gone to their places of work and have identified those people we can work with. Now, we have to engage with them based on the information that we have before we roll out that one”, the Minister said.

Hon. Opoku then noted that there are other plans underway that are purposely for large-scale and medium-scale commercial farmers, emphasising the need for an overall increment in poultry production in the country to reduce imports and over-reliance on imported poultry and poultry produce.

The minister noted that there is an existing program from last year where some poultry farmers were provided with the logistics and financial support, with the understanding that they would pay back after harvest.In an earlier address in April by President Mahama, he revealed that the policy will be implemented in collaboration with Poultry Farmers Associations, which will support “hatcheries, feedmills, veterinary services and poultry processing centres.

This year, 50 anchor farmers will be supported to produce four million birds, which will be equivalent to 10,000 tonnes of chicken. Additionally, a supplementary programme will involve the registration of 55,000 households across this country, and each of these households will produce 500 birds every year. We believe that this will rear over 1 million birds to improve the income of women and the nutrition of their children”.

Meanwhile, while farmers have commended the government for the initiative to deal with poultry importation, they have expressed concerns about being sidelined in designing the programme.

Some farmers also expressed their dissatisfaction with the government’s decision to exclude commercial farmers, who have described themselves as a crucial party in ensuring the effectiveness of the programme.

The National Poultry Farmers Association (NPFA) have also warned that the government may incur losses if the programme is not effectively implemented.

They are calling for a balanced household empowerment with support for commercial farmers, and to ensure proper training and monitoring so the initiative doesn’t backfire.

Meanwhile, the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who also represents the people of Effutu Constituency in January this year expressed his belief in the government’s proposed poultry programme.Speaking during the vetting of Agriculture Minister-designate, Eric Opoku, Mr Markin described it as a potential solution to the country's high youth unemployment rate.

Mr Afenyo-Markin noted that, as an entrepreneur, he recognises the pressure the youth unemployment crisis places on the political class and believes the programme could offer a viable solution.

“I heard it from President, Mahma, and for me as an entrepreneur, knowing the pressure from our youth on all of us as a political class, beyond the political rhetoric, I believe that if it [nkoko nketenkete] is implemented, it will help the youth because a lot of them are dejected in this country. They don’t have jobs, and the pressure is on us,” he stated.