The New Nation - Internet Edition

THE culling of poultry birds in the farms during the last two years for bird flu threat caused the biggest sustained loss to a highly prospective and emerging economic sector since the independence of the country. The poultry sector has been expanding in recent years creating income and jobs at the grassroots. Poor women, unemployed youth in the countryside and others in the vast population have been adding impressively to the country's total gross domestic product (GDP) as well as creating large scale regular employment, part employment and self- employment from the expansion of the sector.

But bird flu came as a severely stunting phenomenon in the otherwise favourable development of the sector so much so that analysis found the national GDP declined considerably due to this factor in the last two fiscal years. Therefore, it is extremely important for the government to be proactive to take all measures to head off another major reverse in the poultry sector. Poultry farmers themselves bear primary responsibility for the safety of their farms. But government's responsibility must not be limited to culling the poultry birds once the disease breaks. The government must help farmers to build an environment of greater safety against the disease.

Training the farmers in such practices and supplying them with safety gears would be another major input. Distribution of such gears should be in a manner that every farm gets them and that workers in each farm get trained and motivated in their use. No major cases of bird flu have been noted so far this year. But this should not breed complacence for some small incidents of the disease have been reported in the press. Thus strong and comprehensive safeguards to prevent a large scale outbreak of it should be built right now.