South Africa has had a number of outbreaks of animal diseases in recent months that suggest there are weaknesses in the country’s biosecurity system – the measures in place to reduce the risk of infectious diseases being transmitted to crops, livestock and poultry.
The outbreaks pose a major challenge for South Africa’s domestic animal farming sector. Fears of weaknesses in the system have been raised by agribusiness for some time.
Biosecurity breaches are not unique to SA. They have become a significant challenge globally. It’s not easy to put a monetary value on it.
Reports about foot-and-mouth disease in cattle, African swine fever in pigs and avian influenza in poultry, have become frequent. But few countries have had to deal with these disease outbreaks almost simultaneously, as South Africa has.
In 2022, six of South Africa’s nine provinces reported foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks. The situation remains critical.
All these outbreaks have had a notable impact on South African agricultural exports, and the growth prospects of the sector. Farmers have been hit hard.
Livestock and poultry account for roughly half of agriculture’s gross value added.
Based on this history, there is concern that South Africa’s biosecurity breaches signal serious capacity challenges in farm biosecurity measures and the country’s veterinary and related support services (mainly the laboratories) that control the movement of livestock and vaccine production.
The government, organised agriculture and industry bodies should work together to address the country’s bio-security challenges.
On November 4, the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development announced it was investigating a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in one district.
These outbreaks weigh heavily on the cattle industry’s fortunes. The beef industry accounts for a sizable share of the South African agricultural economy, and is positioned to absorb new entrant farmers in the sector. Beef exports were about 1% of agricultural exports, valued at $151-million last year, according to Trade Map.
The sheep industry was also affected by the 2022 outbreak. China, a significant market for South African wool, suspended imports. This resulted in a 21% year-on-year decline in the export value of wool in 2022, to $337-million, according to Trade Map data. Wool still made up 3% of South Africa’s record agricultural export value of $12.8-billion in 2022.
China’s official reason for the suspension was the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
But it might not be all that clear cut.
China has a unique protocol to handle wool shipments and avoid any contamination during a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the country. This was agreed in 2019 after an outbreak.
In 2022, South Africa’s pig industry was put under fresh pressures. Towards the end of the year, outbreaks of African swine fever were reported. The disease remains a challenge.
Most recently, the focus has been on avian influenza.
More than a hundred commercial poultry facilities have reported cases. There are major losses for breeders of layers and broilers. As a result, there has been a spike in imports of fertilised eggs to rebuild the parent stock flock. This is key for stabilising the industry.
- The article first appeared in The Conversation
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