On 08 December South Africa’s Poultry Industry executives met with the Trade, Industry and Competition Minister and the Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister to review implementation of the Poultry Master Plan signed in November 2019.
The meeting applauded progress made over the past 12 months, which included the following:
- A new tariff was placed on imported poultry which provides greater protection for local producers and which assisted with one million additional chickens being produced locally every week since the new duty structure. In all, 145 300 tons of poultry is now produced by local firms per month
- Investment in expanding the capacity of the sector was stepped up, with R1.1 billion invested in upgrading and improving the efficiency of facilities.
- 930 new jobs were created in the sector as a result of the increased investment
- Cooking capacity for poultry meat exports has increased by 65 tons per week
- Transformation is being facilitated through support programmes for black farmers, with 13 new contract farmers assisted with feed and chicks from the producers
- Imports of poultry were down by 17% in the first 10 months of this year, compared to the similar period last year.
Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) noted that progress had been made in spite of a decline in chicken consumption during the initial lockdown period. Industry stakeholders committed to step up their efforts in 2021, building on the progress made during the past year. The meeting agreed to launch a ‘buy local chicken, eat South African poultry’ campaign over the Christmas period. The poultry industry has strategically prioritised the European Union (EU), Saudi Arabia, United Arabs Emirates, Qatar as well as other African countries to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA). Some of the South African companies are already exporting pre-cooked meat to the Middle East, especially to Qatar.
Story by: Riaan de Lange