Chicken importers “shout because they are losing”

Join us as we discuss how local government infrastructure can unlock poultry growth, food security and jobs in South Africa.

South Africa’s poultry industry is a major agricultural employer and a critical source of affordable protein. Yet unreliable electricity, water shortages, deteriorating roads, wastewater failures and logistics constraints raise production costs, disrupt operations and weaken investment.

This webinar will place municipal performance at the centre of the debate on local poultry growth, food affordability and rural job creation.

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Panellists

• Malapane Thamaga, Senior Economist, NAMC.
• Christopher Campbell, Chief Executive Officer, CESA.
• Izaak Breitenbach, GM Broiler Organisation, SAPA.
• Francois Baird, Founder, FairPlay Movement.

Event details

• Date: Thursday 29 October 2026.
• Time: 12pm – 2pm.
• Platform: Zoom. Access details will be provided to registered participants.

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After four years of repeated and widespread bird flu infections, American poultry producers are actively looking at vaccination against the disease.

Nearly 170 million chickens have been culled because of bird flu in the United States since 2022, WattPoultry reported. The article looked at the implications for US producers if large-scale vaccination is undertaken.

“After so many years of continuous outbreak, we kind of realise that mass depopulation maybe is not the tool to get rid of the problem,” said Maurice Raccoursier, clinical assistant professor at the University of Georgia’s Poultry Diagnostic and Research Centre.

“We need to think about vaccination.”

One of the problems is that, while vaccinated birds survive bird flu infections, they can still transmit the virus without showing any obvious symptoms. This means producers would have to move from passive to active surveillance and testing to catch infections that vaccines can mask, and to differentiate between vaccinated and infected birds.

“Vaccination is one of the very important tools that you have,” Raccoursier said.

“But as important, even more than vaccination, is biosecurity, of course, and active surveillance.”

The US is looking for lessons from Europe. Holland has done a number of vaccination studies, and France has required vaccination of commercial duck farms since 2023.

South African poultry producers are hoping that the government will issue new vaccination rules by December this year, and that mass vaccination of the country’s poultry flock will begin in the second quarter of next year.

Vaccination has so far been stalled by government requirements that producers say are too onerous and too expensive. Only one poultry producer has so far started vaccinating, on one site. Efforts over nearly two years to negotiate a more reasonable set of rules have so far failed.

A new process is underway, led by agriculture minister Willie Aucamp, and may provide the answer, Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association (SAPA) told News24. He hoped the Department of Agriculture would now be able to publish a streamlined set of protocols by the end of this year.

Vaccination was urgent, he said, because of widespread bird flu outbreaks in Europe, which migrating wild birds brought to South Africa. The H5N1 bird flu strain was “causing havoc” in France and Germany.

“If it comes into Gauteng, it would certainly have a material impact, and we would like to mitigate that impact by vaccinating,” Breitenbach said.

Why the fight for chicken is a fight on the side of the people.

For FairPlay, the fight against chicken dumping has never been only about protecting an industry. It has always been about the people whose livelihoods and nutrition depend on it.

Chicken is South Africa’s most popular meat protein, accounting for around 66% of the meat consumed nationally. For millions of households, particularly those under financial pressure, it is one of the most accessible ways to put protein on the table.

That makes the health of the local poultry industry a matter of national importance.

Since its establishment in 2016, FairPlay has worked to highlight the connections between unfair trade, local job losses, food security and the availability of affordable chicken. When local producers are forced to cut production or close operations, the consequences extend beyond farms and processing plants.

They reach workers, rural communities, grain farmers and families already struggling to afford nutritious food.

The movement has also challenged the idea that imported chicken automatically benefits consumers. The cost of local production has always been the reference price for retail, which means importers do not pass on the benefit of lower prices to consumers, and instead pocket fat profits. Fair trade, FairPlay argues, must consider the long-term consequences of undermining local production, employment and the country’s ability to supply its own food.

This perspective has helped broaden the conversation beyond trade disputes and tariffs to include a much bigger question: what kind of food system does South Africa need to sustain its people?

Ten years on, FairPlay’s message remains clear: A resilient local poultry industry means more than jobs and economic growth. It helps safeguard South Africa’s ability to put affordable protein on the nation’s tables.

Because ultimately, this fight is about more than chicken. It is about people, dignity and food security.

The campaign by chicken importers against the renewal of anti-dumping duties on poultry imports from three countries has confused some journalists.

What the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE) hasn’t been telling the media is that, if their campaign fails and the import duties remain in place, nothing changes.

Importers want the duties scrapped, and often bring price into their arguments. This led the Afrikaans-language radio station RSG to report that “The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters warns that South Africans could soon pay substantially more for chicken imports from Europe”.

Wow! A substantial price increase in the near future from all chicken imports from Europe! Except that the journalist has got it all wrong.

Has AMIE made such a claim? They would know it could not be true. But clearly, these claims are spreading confusion, intentionally or not.

It was left to Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association (SAPA) to point out the errors. He told RSG that chicken imports from Europe and the United States were very low at the moment because of bird flu outbreaks.

He pointed out that, if the duties on three European countries stay the same, as SAPA hopes, South Africans will not pay more for chicken.

“There will be no change in the tariffs and there will be no impact on prices,” he said.

Obvious and true. But it should not have been necessary for him to say so.

New details have emerged of Saudi Arabia’s push to increase chicken production.

Saudi Arabia is a priority target for South African poultry exporters, who are hoping that an export agreement will soon be reached with the Saudi authorities.

However, the country is also seeking to ramp up local production to meet an increasing demand for chicken products.

Food & Agribusiness recently reported that Saudi Arabia plans to pump almost $700 million into its poultry industry. The report, which is behind a pay wall, said Saudi Arabia had signed 27 investment agreements worth a combined US$687 million aimed at giving an additional impetus to the development of its poultry industry.

Last month, FairPlay noted a report in WATTPoultry that said poultry production was rising in a number of Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It quoted research by Nan-Dirk Mulder of Rabobank.

“In Saudi Arabia, for example, poultry meat self-sufficiency has risen from 39% in 2019 to 68% today, driven by government strategy and industry support. Other governments have also launched programs to boost self-sufficiency. In the UAE, the National Food Security Strategy 2051 aims to ensure affordable access to safe, nutritious food,” Rabobank said.

South Africa is already exporting poultry products to the UAE and there are plans to increase sales there.