The South African poultry industry is facing a crisis after a bird flu outbreak hit Brazil – a country that is one of the top chicken suppliers to South Africa’s chicken industry.
Brazilian chicken meat is mostly exported to a total of 158 countries across the world, and officials have detected two cases of avian influenza in wild birds, an event they regard as a big concern for the poultry industry in South Africa – and the risk it poses for many people who are employed downstream in the chicken industry.
Experts in the country predict the outbreak in Brazil could potentially threaten job security in the local poultry industry and contribute to more hunger as chicken is regarded as one of the cheapest forms of protein consumed by the poorer sector in the country.
However, spokesperson for the labour department Teboho Thejane appeared in his comment to be not overly fazed by the flu outbreak and the impact this might have on the job market.
“In an event workers face losing their jobs, we have UIF, which provides relief in the event they are retrenched. So, they may be assisted in that way.
“Also, companies might want to apply for section 189 of the LRA. We have a relief system called TERS (temporary employer/employee relief scheme), which aims to retain workers in jobs, so companies may apply through the CCMA as we also aim for job retention whilst we create a platform for job creation through the labour activation programme funded through the UIF.”
In terms of job losses, the country is already bleeding jobs, with a high rate of youth unemployment flagged by the statistician-general’s recent report.
The report painted a gloomy unemployment rate picture of 32.9% for the first quarter of the year, translating into 179 000 more unemployed persons – escalating the number of unemployed South Africans to nearly 8-million people.
Hume International managing director Fred Hume advised, though, that the World Organisation for Animal Health had indicated that the incident would not trigger a ban on poultry exports from Brazil unless the virus spreads “to commercial flocks”. However, he sounded a word of caution, declaring that the contagious nature of the highly pathogenic avian influenza had led to the worst global outbreak of bird flu on record.
This means South Africa should prepare for the worst.
“If imports from Brazil are banned, there would be an immediate and potentially crippling impact on the local market, which would cost thousands of jobs, and cause dramatic increases in prices, and result in supply shortages,” said Hume.
The National Agricultural Marketing Council has noted that Brazil provided as much as 75% of South Africa’s imported chicken in 2022.
Given the heightened demand for the cheaper animal protein, especially among struggling and financially vulnerable households, Brazilian chicken imports play an essential role in supplementing local supply chains.
Hume said: “This role has only become more critical as intensified loadshedding has sparked growing poultry shortages, accelerating chicken and meat price inflation. Brazilian chicken is vital to local supply chains, and we do not have a credible replacement partner approved by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
“The government urgently needs to consider possible measures to prevent the potential devastation that would follow should Brazilian imports be halted.”
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo said:
Brazil has only reported HPAI in wild birds so far. This, according the WOAH, does not affect trade. So poultry meat is still permitted from Brazil. Regarding the concern for jobs loses in in the poultry production system in RSA as a result of HPAI outbreak in Brazil – the poultry industry should not be concerned as this will have little to no bearing on the local producer – in fact, it will leave a gap left by Brazilian poultry that would need to be filled (by the local producers).
The latest Standard Bank Livestock Report revealed that chicken prices have risen by 11% year-on-year, substantially higher than the headline consumer price index.
The department of agriculture estimated that the broiler industry’s food processing sector was responsible for over 31 000 jobs. A shortage of mechanically deboned poultry meat – a key ingredient in sausages, viennas, polonies and pet food – could result in local production cutbacks and place these jobs at risk.
Likewise, production cuts could result in shortages of affordable processed meat products, while disruptions in frozen chicken supplies would result in meteoric price increases. Both, in turn, would threaten the food security of low-income families.
Hume added that to reduce some of the impact of a potential ban on Brazilian chicken, the government first needed to extend the suspension of new import duties on frozen chicken, in which he said to include sizeable tariffs of 158.4% on chicken imports from Ireland; 96.9% on Poland; 85.8% on Spain; and 67.4% on Denmark.
“The government could also consider adjusting its import policies regarding countries such as Brazil and Argentina to allow for regionalisation in the case of bird flu outbreaks.
“In keeping with the precedent already set by its trade policy regarding the US, this would limit poultry bans to imports from specific provinces where there is bird flu, as opposed to the entire country.
“The government, industry representatives and businesses urgently need to convene and discuss the way forward in case of emergency. We cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand.”
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