Avian flu payment guidelines imminent

Poultry farmers hit by the disease to be compensated for losses

DRAFT guidelines on compensation for poultry farmers hit by avian flu are to be released by tomorrow, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Daff ) Senzeni Zokwana said. “The outbreak of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza has sent shock waves through the poultry industry in South Africa after it was first detected on June 22,” the minister said.

Zokwana addressed poultry stakeholders in Cape Town yesterday as part of his engagement with the industry to find ways to halt the spread of avian flu, which has led to the culling of hundreds of thousands of chickens and hit poultry producers’ earnings just as they were starting to recover from a devastating drought.

“In my meeting with the industry last week, the industry raised concerns about the principles and guidelines for compensating the affected farms. The draft guidelines have been completed and will be released to the industry and the public by September 1,” Zokwana said.

Negotiations were continuing to find a way to provide incentives to farmers who had incurred massive losses, because they had to destroy healthy birds and eggs in an effort to eradicate the disease.

Zokwana stressed the importance of poultry to the economy. In the 2016 production cycle, broiler and egg production was the largest segment of South African agriculture by rand value.

In an effort to minimise the disease, Zokwana said there must be control over the movement of live chickens in the informal and small commercial sectors.

“The Poultry Disease Management Agency was authorised by Daff to register and keep records of all parties selling and buying live chickens. This is also linked to health declarations of live birds to prevent the spread of the disease and safeguard consumers, without hampering local trade,” he said.

Avian flu has been reported in Mpumalanga, with 260 000 chickens culled on two farms, Gauteng, KwaZuluNatal, North West and the Western Cape.

Daff said 24 outbreaks had been detected in the country, with 10 outbreaks on commercial chicken farms, three on ostrich farms, three among backyard chicken breeders, and eight in wild birds and birds kept as a hobby.

On Monday, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture reported it had culled about 110 000 chickens. This took the number of chickens culled nationally to 370 000, while 30 000 chickens have died from the disease.

RCL Foods said it had detected avian flu on its breeder farms in Gauteng, while Astral Foods reported two cases of avian flu on its farms in Mpumalanga.