The Ghana Veterinary Services Department will receive USD 60,000 to produce the thermotolerant NDI-2 vaccine that protects against Newcastle disease through the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

WAAPP, an initiative of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is funded by The World Bank. WAAPP has been helping to support the production and field application of the vaccine since late 2013. In 2015, 2154 Community Poultry Vaccinators (CPVs) have been trained and they have supported the vaccination of 8 million birds. WAAPP will help boost the production of vaccine which has stalled in recent years at the Accra Veterinary Laboratory (AVL) due to lack of funds.

The Deputy Director of Veterinary Services and Head of AVL, Dr Joseph Adongo Awuni reports that village poultry constitute over 80 percent of the poultry population in Ghana and that vulnerable groups in the country such as women and children are the ultimate beneficiaries of initiatives such as these because they are important stakeholders in the smallholder poultry value chain in Ghana and throughout rural Africa. He said that the vaccine is affordable to farmers, is efficacious and easy to apply. As such, it is in high demand in the West African sub-region region especially in Niger, The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkino Faso.

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