Farm Animal Welfare in Ghana

By Animal Ask @ 2024-10-15T12:08 (+2)

This report is also available on Animal Ask website.

Downloadable pdf version here.

We conducted this research on behalf of Animal Welfare League. More information about this organisation's work for animals is available here on their website.

Executive Summary

The welfare of farmed animals is a critical component of agriculture. Improving animal welfare means that animals live happier, healthier lives - not only is this good for its own sake, but animal welfare also supports community development, public health, and environmental outcomes. For this reason, many farmers in Ghana already opt for more extensive farming systems or shun the use of battery cages in the production of products like eggs. Unfortunately in Ghana, existing legal requirements for animal welfare don’t match this. The criminal code outlaws ill defined ‘unnecessary suffering’ and includes exceptions for animals being slaughtered or prepared for slaughter for food. This leaves the vast majority of traditional extensive farmers' livelihoods at risk for competition from large industrial farms adopting practise banned in many other parts of the world. This progressively concentrates the industry in the hands of few and fewer wealthier individuals who lack concern for animals, public health and the environment. In this report, we identify the top opportunities for improving farmed animal welfare in Ghana, working with industry and government stakeholders to uphold animal welfare as a public good (1). 

When the stakeholders seek to improve the lives of animals, it is important to focus efforts on the animal species and policies that will bring about the biggest improvements for a given investment of effort. Reforms should focus on reaching as many animals as possible. Fish (170 million individuals) and poultry (82 million individuals) are the most numerous farmed animals in Ghana by far, and intensively farmed fish and poultry typically experience poorer welfare conditions than other types of animals. Intensive poultry and live markets have come with high risks of zoonotic diseases through the spread of avian influenza (2,3). So, improving the lives of farmed fish and chickens is a priority.

With this in mind, we have identified several high-priority avenues for improving the welfare of these keystone species in Ghana agriculture. 

• Cage free work for hens. Making sure that laying hens are free from battery cages has been identified as a crucial reform by many animal welfare scientists, as well as the direction that the global market is inevitably heading toward. The National Cage-Free Farmers' Network are already standing for cage free production systems including over 130 farmers (4) rapidly growing from previous years. 
• Poultry disease prevention. A number of zoonotic diseases are present in Ghanaian poultry populations (5). Additionally, worm infestations, fowl pox, and coryza are non-zoonotic diseases that can cause significant morbidity and mortality on farms (6). These lead to the death and suffering of the chickens, existential human health concerns and financial losses for farmers. 
• Pre-slaughter stunning. Stunning animals before slaughter using affordable easy to maintain stunning systems, such as the Zephyr captive bolt stunner. While stunning is required before slaughter in Ghana (7), there is no indication that this is practised beyond these four slaughterhouses. Slaughterhouses cover a variety of different animals so the stunning device used must be multipurpose. As the bulk of animals slaughtered in Ghana are chickens, it is very important that any slaughter methods apply to them.
• Improve water quality on tilapia farms. We recommend that the Environmental Protection Agency establish a program that monitors water quality on all tilapia farms producing over 100 tonnes of tilapia each year and works with farms to improve water quality where problems are identified. This will improve health, welfare and productivity outcomes for farmed fish and reduce risks of mass mortality events in Volta lake.
• Strengthen biosecurity practices in aquaculture. As with water quality, weak biosecurity presents a large risk for fish and fish farmers. We recommend that the Veterinary Services Directorate and the Fisheries Commission continue their work in establishing a biosecurity plan for aquaculture in Ghana as well as a number practices that should be considered in said plan.
   

All of these efforts can be further supported by establishing umbrella animal welfare regulations. These would establish overarching requirements or powers for the control of cruel and dangerous practices that are adopted by intensive farmers. This could be modelled on the animal welfare act of Tanzania or the EU, and include the requirement for pre-slaughter stunning.

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