Government is reluctant to fight outbreak of Avian Influenza  - Minority MP’s on Agriculture 


The Minority in Parliament has alleged that Ghana's efforts to fight the outbreak of Avian Influenza in the Country is being hampered by the reluctance of the NDC Government to release the needed funds to the Veterinary Services.  

The situation, they maintain is posing a serious threat to the already weakened poultry industry and indications are that the Avian Influenza is spreading especially in Accra.  

The Chairman of the Minority in Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Dr. Owusu Afriyie  Akoto said these when he addressed a News Conference on the State of Agriculture in Ghana at Goaso in the Asunafo North District of Bono-Ahafo.  

Radio Ghana’s Correspondent John Sam-Arthur reports that the News Conference was called to give the Minority in Parliament the opportunity to air their views on the Agricultural sector in the country, which they believe is struggling.  

The Committee chose Bono-Ahafo for their Outreach due to its reputation as the food basket of Ghana, with Goaso as one of the main Agric Centres.  

In attendance was the Minority Leader, Osie Kyei Mensah Bonsu, along with Members of the Minority Sub Committee on Agric and Cocoa Affairs.  

Addressing the gathering, the Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto noted that the lack of funds for anti-avian flu effort has resulted in the non-payment of compensation to affected farmers, prompting others to withhold vital information since they fear there is no compensation package for the losses they are bound to incur.  

He also said Veterinary Officers are unable to visit farms to detect the disease because there are no funds for transportation and equipment.  

The Chairman continued that in spite of the unprecedented intervention by Parliament, the Government is still not making Funds available to control the spread of the avian influenza.  

On the Cocoa sector, Dr. Akoto described the NDC's Management of the sector as nothing short of a disaster.  

He said mass cocoa spraying and the Cocoa Hitec program introduced by the Kufour Administration before it left power, ensured an unprecedented production of one million metric tons of cocoa in the 2010/2011 season under the NDC Government.  

This was preceded by production increases which doubled in just two years from 341 000 Metric tons in 2001/2002 to 730,000 tons by 2003/2004.   

He regretted that since the NDC came to power it has presided over a slide in production.  

Dr. Akoto said since 2011 cocoa production has dwindled from the one million tons to the expected less than 700, 000 tons in the current 2014/2015 crop season, which he described as the lowest in a decade.  

He attributed the downturn to misguided policies and poor implementation of projects by the NDC.  

The NPP Minority in Parliament also maintained that the growth of the Agriculture sector under the NDC has been woeful, further describing it as sluggish.  

Dr. Akoto said  from a growth rate of seven point four percent in  2008 and seven point two in 2009, agricultural growth slowed to five point three percent in 2010 and hit a low of zero point eight in 2011. 
 
He said growth remained below three percent in 2012 and only picked up to just above five percent in the last two years due mainly to an unprecedented growth in forestry and logging activities.  

The Minority in parliament also mentioned the supply of premix fuel, the Buffer Stock Company, Budgetary allocation to Agriculture and input support for poor farmers as areas where the NDC is failing in a spectacular fashion.  

The NPP maintains that without any shadow of doubt large sections of Ghanaians are suffering from deprivation, hunger and malnutrition instead of the better Ghana NDC promised them.  


GBC