BY LUSEKELO PHILEMON
Newcastle disease is threatening the country’s poultry industry, the situation that compelled experts from an international NGO and local experts to embark into a vaccination exercise to fight the disease.
The provision of the vaccines is part of the implementation of the four-year Livelihood Enhancement through Agricultural Development (LEAD) project, which is being facilitated by BRAC Maendeleo Tanzania—a Bangladesh-based NGO with the funding from Department for International Development of UK (DFID).
LEAD Project manager (Agriculture), Phulumens Kavumvuli told The Guardian here that the vaccination exercise has been possible as the project involved a number of players such as agro-dealers, extension officers, veterinary from local government authorities and those in private sector in the 15 regions where the poultry farming project is being implemented.
He said that since inception in 2013, the project managed to provide vaccines to about 3.1 million chickens in 15 regions, where the project is being implemented.
“Our target is to vaccinate as many chicken as possible,” he said, adding: “This goes hand in hand with empowerment training whereby farmers are trained on the importance vaccination and the effective use of veterinary services.”
According to the expert, the intervention has improved the health of chickens while increasing the household income to the small-scale poultry farmers.
He said that thousands of poultry and maize farmers have benefited from the project, whereby there is a sustained increase in agricultural production and productivity as well as improving food security and improved levels of nutrition.
“During the implementation of LEAD project we have been seeing increased rural employment as well as improved economic empowerment of women,” he disclosed, noting that the vaccines provided to farmers have contributed to reduction of chicken mortality; hence boosting the sector in the targeted area.
“Before the project, many poultry farmers used traditional methods, which didn’t sustain poultry farming as most of the chicken ended-up dying because of fowl diseases.
“In this kind of farming; farmers do not provide vaccines to their birds,” the expert said, stating that before the vaccine ninety percent of indigenous chickens would die because of diseases.
“In those areas, where farmers are trained on the importance of vaccines there is a big improvement. Vaccines ensure sustainability of the poultry farming.”
He also suggested the need for farmers to inculcate a culture of vaccinating their birds to scale down Newcastle Disease (ND), which ranks number one killer disease of free-ranging local chickens. Other diseases include Gumboro Disease Fowl pox and coccidiosis.
Regions which have benefited from the vaccines include Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Morogoro, Tanga, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Manyara, Singida, Dodoma, Tabora, Mwanza, Shinyanga, Mara, Mbeya and Iringa.
It is estimated that Tanzania has more than 50 million chickens of which more than 35 million are of indigenous breeds while the remaining more than 15 million are exotic.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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