Poultry
Forty-four poultry farmers in Dormaa receive FAO certification on FFS Concept Forty-four poultry farmers in Dormaa and Wamfie have completed an 11-month Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) training on Farmer Field School (FFS). It is an intervention to equip farmers with requisite knowledge and skills to champion behavioural change and attitudes on the prudent use of antimicrobials and management of antimicrobial resistance ( AMR) in poultry production. Beneficiary farmers comprising 26 men and 18 women were grouped into two selected demonstration farms in Dormaa Central municipality and Dormaa East District of the Bono Region, each received a certificate, lab coats and rubber shoes. The virtual graduation ceremony was facilitated by the FAO in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) with funding from Fleming Fund from the United Kingdom (UK).
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The graduands were ushered into the training in February last year and completed in December same year. Ms Joycelyn Gayden Brown Hall, FAO Representative for Ghana, said the organisation supported the Government to develop AMR policy and action plans, collaborating in various areas such as AMR awareness creation, building the capacity of media practitioners and the press to be advocates and working to ensure passage of antimicrobial legislation. She congratulated the farmers for completing their training course and for their achievement that would help ensure better nutrition and health. Mr Emmanuel Kofi Agyemang, District Chief Executive, Dormaa East, said apart from achieving wholesomeness of poultry products, the training would cut down cost for the farmers
as they would spend less purchasing antibiotics. He said the FAO’s partnership was in line with government’s policy to industrialise the economy through the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda and ensure food security. “Ghana needs 500, 000 metric tonnes of chicken, but are only able to produce 58, 000 metric tonnes. The country imports about 180, 000 metric tonnes costing the country not less than $30 million. “The government through its industrialisation programme is facilitating the construction of a poultry broiler project in Dormaa East District, ” he said. He advised them to be agents of change to influence others through the knowledge and skills acquired. Mr Gilbert Sonkpi, the Dormaa East District Director, of Food and Agriculture, said the
www.afriagrimagazine.com | July-September Issue 2021
