Chicken farmers walking on egg shells, literally

SOUTH Africa is suffering from another bird flu scare that is threatening to wipe off the chicken industry.

The reported H6 and H7 avian flu virus has left many chicken farmers across the country literally walking on egg shells, due to the uncertain future of their chicken farms that are forced to cull thousands of birds due to influenza.

Having been reported in April, hundreds of chicken farmers have had to slaughter thousands of chickens in an attempt to prevent the avian flu from spreading and wiping off the little number of chickens they could salvage.

It is a known fact that the larger sections of South African society depend on meat products, including poultry and eggs.

With the avian flu threatening to incinerate the industry, thousands will find it difficult to put food on their already empty tables.

Recent reports on the egg prices on the supermarket shelves indicate that they have sky-rocketed.

This week alone, it has been reported that a tray of 30 small-sized eggs has gone as high as R70 in some supermarkets.

The price of chicken meat has also gone sky high, leaving many such meat lovers scratching their heads because all meat products that the country relies on have become unaffordable.

Through all this, it seems South Africans are left to their own devices, with the government authorities mum around the economic crisis facing the country.

With more than half of the population living below the breadline, while millions struggle every day to put a decent meal on their children’s tables, it remains to be seen whether this government has any plans to change the already precarious situation facing millions of its underprivileged members of society for the better or it is just content with the way things are for more than half of its people.

We all have heard reports that in some parts of the country children face malnutrition, with some deaths because of food shortages.

It remains to be seen whether the current administration has what it takes to turn the fortunes of South Africans around, or it is hellbent on just letting the country’s situation slide into another African abyss.