AgVANTAGE Avian Influenza Project

This initiative drew on a variety of communication tools - printed materials, video, and in-person capacity-building sessions - to share information with both farmers and the general public in order to raise awareness and inspire behaviour change to prevent avian influenza.

Specifically, printed materials were developed and distributed in order to educate poultry growers and the public about the risk of avian influenza, and how to prevent it - amongst both poultry and people. These materials include a written handout featuring 7 "easy-to-understand but critical" steps for biosecurity, an avian influenza manual for veterinarians, and a tri-fold brochure.

In addition, a 30-minute DVD video, initially developed by the United States (US) Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture, was adapted for this purpose into the Georgian language. This video demonstrates the steps farm workers can take, as well as the importance of sanitary hygiene, to prevent the spread of disease.

Interpersonal communication was also central to this effort. In order to build the capacity of veterinarians and laboratory staff, ACDI/VOCA organised training and simulation exercises, e.g., one in which participants assumed roles within the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and then worked together to respond to a limited outbreak of avian influenza at a small poultry producer's farm. Printed materials used in trainings provided background on avian influenza. In 2 separate, 2-day sessions, the project organised training-of-trainers sessions; these trainers then provided countrywide regional trainings. In a series of seven 2-day training sessions, 121 state-employed veterinarians were trained. Additional trainings were provided to 15 employees of 4 commercial farms who sought to raise awareness of the importance of biosecurity.

Partnership amongst a variety of stakeholders was a core strategy in launching this effort - and in sharing details about the MOA's Preparedness and Response Plan that was finalised as a result of the above-described process. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported AgVANTAGE project worked in close collaboration with the Prime Minister's Avian Influenza Project Implementation Team; the MOA; the National Service for Food Safety, Veterinary, and Plant Protection; the World Bank; the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and commercial poultry farms throughout the project. Drawing on these collaborations, copies of the adopted version of the national plan were distributed to veterinarians working for the MOA and other members of the public, as needed.

Health, Natural Resource Management.

According to organisers, when the first case of avian influenza was reported in Georgia in 2006, the country did not have a national plan of action, or the capacity to properly contain the virus and take prompt action to avert further spread. It was this lapse that the above-described project was designed rectify.

AgVANTAGE (formerly known as Support Added Value Enterprises) is a multi-year project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by ACDI/VOCA, a private, non-profit, United States (US)-based international consulting and development organisation.