Farmers have been told to adhere to spacing in poultry production to help reduce the use of antibiotics that end up in the food chain.
World Animal Protection in Africa farming campaign manager Victor Yamo said poultry farmers are producing chicken in a congested environment which creates opportunities for diseases to propagate.
He spoke on Sunday when the world marked the second Food Safety Day under the theme 'Food Safety Everyone’s Business’.
The day was set up by the World Health Organization in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage risks contributing to food insecurity, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.
Yamo said part of managing Covid-19 is social distancing, and animal welfare experts have been telling farmers to observe the same social distancing in animal production, especially in poultry farming.
“When you have too many animals in a small space (overstocking) you end with diseases going through the animal population very fast. So to stop this, farmers need to have the right stocking density and ensure high levels of hygiene. This will help reduce the use of antibiotics which then end up in the food chain, and causes food safety issues,” he said.
He appealed to farmers to look at stocking density and follow the Covid-19 rule of social distancing even in their chicken production system.
“There is a need for space to control diseases. Farmers also need to ensure the chicken houses are clean and disinfected or sanitised with a disinfectant before they bring in a new bunch of chicken. One of the biggest challenges in Africa especially in Kenya, is that farmers are using what we call a multi-aid house, where one corner of the house has day-old chicks, the middle has three weeks old chicks and then one end is the ones ready for slaughter,” Yamo said.
Such houses, he said, cannot be properly washed or disinfected because there are always birds in the house bringing opportunities for disease to propagate.
He said excessive antibiotics in production animals ultimately end up in our plates as residue.
“This means you are eating antibiotics at low levels and getting exposed, so by the time you are sick you cannot be treated as they are already resistant to the drug that has been used in growing that animal,” Yamo said.
He said this is why consumers should be concerned about the safety of the food they are eating because it has an impact on their health and general well-being.
Consumer Information Network CEO Samuel Ochieng urged the government to also bring in food safety issues even as they educate Kenyans about Covid-19.
“As we talk about social distancing, washing hands and using sanitiser and wearing masks, the government should also educate the public to ensure that the food they are eating is safe,” he said.
Edited by R.Wamochie