The Federal Government has announced a plan to put together contingency funds to make lifelines available to poultry farmers who have suffered losses following the outbreak of bird flu in parts of the country.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, announced this at a meeting with poultry farmers and officials of his ministry and those of the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja.

He said the funds to be provided by the Federal Government would come in form of “targeted compensation” to cushion the effects of the losses and allow them remain in business.

According to him, “the Federal Government is determined to mitigate the effects of the losses on the affected farms. We don’t want any farmer to go out of business which could result in loss of jobs.”

He added that in conjunction with the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) and Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) the Federal Government was already working out the possibility of extending insurance cover to poultry farmers.

…Bans movement of poultry

 He, however, announced ban on the movement of poultry and poultry products into and out of farms affected by bird flu, which broke out in parts of the country, two weeks ago.

He said the decision was a part of measures taken by the Federal Government to contain the spread of the disease which has killed 22,573 birds.

That figure represented 16 per cent of the 140,390 birds that had been associated with bird flu exposures in the country, as at yesterday. The nation has about 630,000 birds.