SA’s poultry industry is starting to feel the effects of the avian influenza
SOUTH Africa’s poultry industry is starting to feel the effects of the avian influenza, with imports increasing by 6 percent in September, according to Dawie Maree, the head of marketing and information for agriculture at FNB Business.
“In the latest SA Revenue Service import data update, the total poultry imports jumped to 51 889 tons in September, which is up 13 percent monthon-month and were 6 percent higher relative to the same month last year,” Maree said.
However, he said in the nine months to September the country had seen less imports as compared to the same period last year.
“The cumulative poultry imports for the nine months of 2017 reached 415 921 tons, which is, however, still 2 percent lower relative to the same period last year,” he said.
Meanwhile, the DA in Gauteng has called on the government to intervene. Ina Cilliers, DA’s Gauteng spokesperson on agriculture and rural development, said since the outbreak in the province more than 2 138 birds had died while 427 277 birds had been killed to stem the spread of the virus.
“Hardest hit have been emerging broiler farmers who collectively have had to destroy 870 349 eggs, preventing them from selling day-old chicks that have been placed on order by commercial farmers. On one farm alone, 40 people have already been retrenched due to the impact of the outbreak,” Cilliers said.
Hard hit The HPAI H5N8 outbreak in the country has not only negatively impacted the already hard hit poultry and ostrich producers, but the reach of the flu has now begun to put a strain on the pocket of the consumer.
Maree said consumers might struggle to get products that are impacted by the outbreak, which included eggs and fresh chicken.
“In the Western Cape, there are supermarkets that have empty shelves due to the strain. Eggs needed to be brought in from Bloemfontein into Western Cape at a huge cost and that cost will most likely downstream to the consumer,” he said. He added that the price of eggs was increasing, which was not good news for cashstrapped consumers as eggs are an important protein source for South African consumers.
The agricultural sector is still to recover from the worst drought in 32 years, which pushed the price of white maize to above R5 000 a ton early last year. It has since fallen to around R1 900 a ton as a result of last year’s summer rains. The outbreak is providing another challenge to the industry.
“Although the reach of the avian influenza is countrywide, the Western Cape, which is going through a drought, accounts for about 22 percent of the poultry numbers in South Africa, it is most likely to feel the pinch the hardest as it comes in the midst of water restraints,” Maree said. The confectionary industry would also be affected as they use eggs in baking as well as the feed industry, he added.
“The feed industry is also impacted as a decrease in bird numbers means less demand for feed. The cumulative year-to-June broiler and layer feed consumption for 2017/18 has fallen by 4 percent relative to the same period during the 2016/17 season. This accounts for 55 percent of the total animal feed consumption,” Maree said.