Share

Poultry crisis: What is the actual problem?

Cape Town – There seems to be conflicting information on the state of South Africa’s poultry industry, with some saying the perceived crisis is attributed to imports and others saying it’s due to the country’s inability to be competitive in global markets. 

This emerged from public hearings on Thursday hosted by Parliament’s portfolio committee on industry where stakeholders such as chicken producers, meat importers and the Departments of Trade and Industry and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries made submissions on the state of affairs in the industry.  

“What is the actual problem here?” asked Joan Fubbs (ANC), committee chairperson. “Some say the high input costs of maize and soya (which are used as chicken fodder) lead us to be uncompetitive,” she added. 

Earlier on Thursday, stakeholders such as the South African Poultry Association (Sapa) and the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) argued that the large-scale job haemorrhage in the sector is a result of imports and dumping of cheap chicken products from the European Union and Brazil.

READ: REVEALED: The number of jobs lost to chicken imports 

In its submission, Fawu general secretary Katishi Masemola said dumping from the European Union is a problem. “And it has to be dealt with as such, otherwise we’ll have a significantly reduced poultry sector in South Africa.” 

Masemola, who is part of a government task team which is looking into the poultry crisis, said the question needs to be asked whether the pace with which the task team is conducting its investigation is satisfactory. “We don’t have the luxury of time.” 

He concluded his submission by saying: “If the EU extends technical barriers of trade, why can’t we do the same? We could gain market access, but there are persistent technical barriers they place on our products.”

READ: Protectionist policies not enough to save SA poultry  

During question time, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on trade and industry Geordin Hill Lewis asked the DTI and DAFF what government is doing to increase global market access for South African chicken farmers and producers. 

“I’m disturbed to hear that there’s a very belated process under way to gain market access to the EU. These things take a long time to process.

“Meanwhilen we’ve heard that we have incredible chicken farmers who are able to compete with the best the world over, yet they don’t have access to markets."

He wanted to know from the DTI and DAFF why it has taken so long to set the process in motion. He urged government to look wider than the EU, and also consider access to other chicken markets around the world. 

Garth Strachan, deputy director general at the DTI, said in response that more needs to be done to gain additional market access for South African poultry. “A much bigger export effort is required,” he said. 

READ: State, industry fight to save the chicken

Responding to a question as to why the DTI regards the poultry industry as being in “crisis”, Strachan said based on the data his department examines across various indicators, such as demand issues and job losses, the DTI is indeed of the opinion that job losses indicate a crisis. 

“Through the task team we intend to bring to bear an integrated policy measure to deal with this crisis.” 

Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter:


We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.9%
Rand - Pound
24.10
-0.9%
Rand - Euro
20.59
-0.7%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.42
-0.9%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.8%
Platinum
915.75
-0.8%
Palladium
1,028.36
-3.5%
Gold
2,159.96
+0.2%
Silver
25.03
-0.6%
Brent Crude
85.34
-0.1%
Top 40
66,252
0.0%
All Share
72,431
0.0%
Resource 10
53,317
0.0%
Industrial 25
100,473
0.0%
Financial 15
16,622
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders