Chicken is expected to play an even more important role in feeding cash-strapped South Africans over the next decade, increasing market share because it is more affordable than pork or beef.
The projection is part of the 10-year agricultural outlook published annually by the independent Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP).
Chicken has long been South Africa’s most popular source of meat protein, and the BFAP expects chicken to extend this lead over the next 10 years.
The BFAP’s latest Baseline looks at agricultural developments from 2022 to 2031. It notes that food prices are rising and meat is considered a luxury product for most South African consumers.
With affordability and value for money critical consumption drivers, it expects poultry consumption to remain stronger than other meat types.
It expects per capita consumption of poultry to increase by 2.3kg by 2031, compared to lower consumption increases for beef (0.8kg) and pork (0.4%).
“Pork provides an affordable alternative to beef products for consumers under budgetary pressure, but it remains more expensive than poultry and is less widely consumed historically.”
The outlook also identified infrastructure improvements as critical for agricultural production, and particularly for exports. This was highlighted by Engineering News, which said “BFAP implores govt to fix ports, rail”
