Best Practices for Poultry Production

In the vibrant West African modern poultry trade, the quality of eggs and broilers is directly related to the health of the eggs-to-hatch (ETH) and day-old chicks (DOC). Given that there are no regional quality standards to which producers can voluntarily adhere, national veterinary services are free to impose regional trade bans, especially in the wake of Avian Influenza outbreaks in the region between 2006 and 2007. Containment of the disease has resulted in the ban being lifted between Burkina Faso and Ghana, but it still exists elsewhere, including between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.

In April 2011, USAID E-ATP brought together poultry industry representatives, including national and private veterinarians, from Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin and Senegal, for seminars in Accra, Ghana and Dakar, Senegal. The purpose was to learn about best practices in hygienic poultry production from international experts with Asian Veterinary and Livestock Services (ASVELIS), and to start the process for developing a regional quality standard.

The process started with presentations in and discussions of biosecurity in poultry production, risks associated with mycotoxins (toxic chemical products produced by fungi), poultry farm facilities design, nutrition, transport, and laboratory services. The results of these exchanges was a proposed action plan comprised of three parts:
 

• Creation of sanitation commissions that would evaluate conformity among production sites, in order to pave the way for regional quality standards;
• Designation of experts to be trained to carry out site audits, which would be submitted to evaluation commissions; and
• Implementation of a sanitation protocol to be followed relative to certain infectious pathologies, and which would follow the recommendations of the World Animal Health Organization as they apply to inter-regional trade in ETH and DOC.

USAID E-ATP will be preparing a formal commitment document to be signed by those involved in developing this action plan. The seminars served to bring together diverse participants to connect with each otherand learn from each other’s experiences. They also emphasized the importance of producers and veterinary services collaborating in developing quality standards, as it is only they who know what will best serve trade in ETH and DOC.