78 veterinary officers in Northern Ghana trained to boost animal health

Livestock in northern Ghana are both a safety net and a source of food and income for rural households. But diseases like Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), Newcastle disease, and African Swine Fever can wipe out entire herds in weeks, leaving families without livelihood. Limited veterinary services and a lack of farmer training often mean outbreaks are detected too late, causing avoidable losses.

Recognizing this, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with funding from the European Union (EU), has trained almost 80 veterinary personnel and district agricultural directors from six districts on how to better prevent, detect, and control animal diseases while promoting safer farming practices. The six-day Training of Trainers (ToT), held in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region and Tamale in the Northern Region, brought together veterinary technical officers, district and regional veterinary officers, and district directors of agriculture from six districts: Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri, Bongo, Kassena Nankana West, Central Gonja, North Gonja, and North East Gonja.

The training combined classroom learning with hands-on practice, covering key areas such as the prevention and control of transboundary animal diseases; early warning systems, disease surveillance and reporting; farm-level health safety for poultry, pigs, and small ruminants; responsible use of antibiotics to curb antimicrobial resistance (AMR); parasite management and farmer advisory skills.

Following the training, the veterinary officers will share their new knowledge with farmers in the six project districts. These community-level trainings will focus on helping farmers improve their animal health practices, especially in disease prevention, timely reporting, and proper vaccination, ultimately reducing livestock mortality and improving productivity.

Regional Director of Agriculture for the Savannah Region, Mr. Seidu Sulemana, commended FAO and the European Union for investing in the veterinary workforce. “This training has come at the right time to empower our veterinary officers to better protect livestock,” he said at the training closing ceremony.
With support from the EU, this training is expected to significantly reduce livestock disease outbreaks, improve farm productivity, and strengthen animal health safety across communities in northern Ghana.

About the European Union Food Security Response Project 
The European Union Food Security Response in Northern Ghana Project, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), is delivering tangible results in its effort to improve food security and livelihoods across six of the most food-insecure districts in the Savannah, North East, and Upper East Regions.

Since its launch in September 2023, the project has reached over 12,000 farmers with Good Agronomic Practices (GAP) training, distributed essential inputs including improved seeds, fertilisers, and poultry manure, enabling the cultivation of nearly 5,000 hectares, and linked maize producers to structured markets. It has strengthened pest and disease surveillance through the training of 80 Agricultural Extension Agents on tools such as the FAMEWS app, distributed 70 threshers to reduce post-harvest losses, and vaccinated 7,000 small ruminants against PPR. These interventions aim to improve productivity, reduce losses, and build resilience in northern Ghana’s farming communities.