Parliament has approved a compensation package worth GHc2 million for farmers whose fowl has been affected by the bird flu outbreak.
This was after the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs presented its report to the House for consideration.
“The Committee noted that a provision of GHc2,000,610 has been made as compensation to farmers whose farms may be destroyed as part of the measures to control the outbreak. The amount represents estimated compensation for about 75,000 birds and other poultry products. The figure of 75,000 represents 0.0125% of the total poultry population of about 60,000,000.”
The Committee also acknowledged that “the current figure of culled birds of 33,000 recorded in the Greater Accra and Volta Regions is likely to increase once the compensation package comes into effect and farmers start reporting early signs of the disease to the Ministry.”
The Committee further explained to Parliament that information reaching them suggests that “payment of compensation during the last outbreak helped in controlling that outbreak and were therefore of the view that “payment of the compensation would be in the right direction.”
The Committee added that “the impact of the outbreak is not just limited to the expected losses to farmers in terms of their investment, but more importantly, the potential loss of human lives from the transmission of the disease to humans.”
