By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa’s food security is at risk, as prices of meat and eggs are set to rise while shortages are expected to worsen due to the outbreak of avian flu.
This is according to City Press, which reported that farmers are at breaking point with no support while fighting the spread of the bird flu, which risks the whole chicken industry in South Africa.
This virus is a novel mutation of a strain which originated from wild birds at or near the location of the original outbreak.
The strain is well-adapted to chickens — it infects them easily and replicates effectively in them and spreads easily between birds and farms. An estimated 10-million have become infected while 6-million died from the H7N6. A further 1.7-million died from H5N1 earlier in the year.
The conventional control measures (collectively known as biosecurity) have been less effective than usual in limiting the spread of the disease. The main measures taken on poultry farms include strictly limiting human and vehicle movement. People entering farms will typically take further measures to limit disease transmission such as showering, changing clothes and disinfecting footwear when moving between different parts of the farm.
According to the publication, at a session of the portfolio committee on agriculture, land reform and rural development on Friday, South African Poultry Association (SAPA) estimated the egg and broiler industry’s current losses to R4.8 billion.
The major listed poultry companies, Astral Foods and RCL Foods (which owns Rainbow Chicken, among other entities), said they had already suffered losses of R220 million and R115 million, respectively.
Stakeholders from Astral Foods and independent economist Johan Willemse said the Department of Agriculture had done nothing to help farmers.
Chris Schutte of Astral noted that South Africa was the only country in the world that failed to compensate farmers for chickens, which they had to destroy to prevent the spread of the disease.
“The US, for example, has a system in which farmers are compensated if the government forces them to cull animals. It’s in the national interests. The risk is too great for farmers to bear alone.”
South Africa is currently experiencing a shortage of poultry and eggs, resulting in producers culling large percentages of their birds. On top of the massive impact of load shedding this year, producers have suffered staggering losses.
Along with this, there are now warnings that prices could escalate further as the shortage sets in.
One of the key remedies to the situation will be imports, but this is highly dependent on the price point and the government’s policies on anti-dumping, which prevent cheaper meat from being brought in by raising duties on cuts below ‘fair’ market value.
A suspension on anti-dumping tariffs for chicken ended in August, which came with its own warnings about higher shelf prices. A new rebate on these tariffs is being considered to encourage imports to alleviate the current shortages.
SAPA said it was working with the Department of Agriculture and other stakeholders in the industry to address the shortages.
“Shortages of eggs may be experienced, but SAPA is monitoring the situation closely and will continue engaging with the Department of Agriculture, land reform, rural development, and other relevant stakeholders for regular updates,” it said.