April 10, 2013

Ghana's pig production improves

The use of the livestock protective net fencing by the smallholder pig farmers in Ghana are very effective in reducing the bites of nuisance flies nearly to zero and pig production and health has improved.

The work in Ghana is done in coordination with the country's national coordination office of the Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomosis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC).

FAO reports that a third pilot is getting underway in Burkina Faso, where the livestock systems are predominantly pastoralist.

In recent project meetings, government and private sector trainees interested in emulating the model have also learned about use of the insecticide nets. The trainees were from Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda in Eastern Africa and from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo in Western Africa.

The pilot projects are supported by US$1.6 million in funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).