The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has disclosed that it is collaborating with partners to carry out the Peste des Petit Ruminant (PPR) vaccination campaign for small ruminants (Goats and Sheep) in the country.
According to MOA release, several goats and sheep farmers in nine of the fifteen counties are expected to benefit, and those counties include Lofa, Nimba and Grand Bassa Counties.
PPR is a virus disease that affects sheep and goats. Its presence in Liberia has caused losses to farmers by the death of scores of goats and sheep. As a result, farmers find it difficult to meet up with their domestic obligations.
The MOA release stated that the animal disease is one of the 12 priority diseases under surveillance.
Globally, the PPR virus is one of those diseases that are to be eradicated by 2030 with support from international partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO), World Organization of Animal Health, and African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with support from the Swiss Government, recently launched a mass vaccination campaign in Sierra Leone that brought together three countries — Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, with high-level government officials and technicians from these countries attending.
Meanwhile, the MOA, placing premium to the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development, is encouraging all goat and sheep farmers to turn out for the PPR vaccination campaign exercise in the targeted counties when it shall have begun.
