The chicken industry is one of the successes of South African agriculture over the past 30 years, according to a study by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP).
The 48-page study details agricultural progress and challenges in South Africa’s democratic era, from 1994 to 2024.
It notes that, since 2013, agricultural growth has been higher than the growth of the South African economy.
“Agriculture’s strong performance in the past decade also meant that, on average, it outperformed all other non-agricultural sectors combined in the democratic era.” During the same period, agro-processing outperformed the manufacturing sector in both value and volume terms.
Over the 30-year period, livestock production shifted from extensive commodities (beef and mutton/lamb on rangeland) to intensive ones (poultry, dairy, pigs), as shifts in consumer preferences were followed by farmers.
Dairy is South Africa’s largest agricultural sector based on volumes. It has grown by 62% since 1993 and produces about 3.3 million tons of milk annually. However, the chicken industry remains the largest of the sub-sectors, with total volumes increasing by 173% since 1993.
The total value of chicken meat produced in 2023 exceeded R54 billion.
“Most of this growth occurred during 2000-2010 when the disposable incomes of consumers improved rapidly, and they could afford to shift from a staple-based diet to affordable animal proteins like chicken,” the BFAP report says.
Beef and pork production are far below chicken volumes. Compared to chicken’s 1.7 million tons, beef production in 2023 amounted to 760 000 tons, an increase of 48% over three decades. Pork production has expanded by 160% since 1993, totalling 300 000 tons annually. The sheep industry has not shown any material growth.
After chicken imports, particularly from Europe, exceeded 500 000 tons by 2018, the BFAP demonstrated that Europe was a higher-cost producer per kilogram of live chicken. Anti-dumping duties and tariffs had curbed imports in recent years.
The study highlighted the rapid increase in South Africa’s soymeal production – a key component of poultry feed – as enhancing the overall competitiveness of the South African chicken industry.
“The pricing of key feed ingredients like yellow maize and soybean meal at export parity is crucial for South African chicken producers to compete against imported chicken and potentially become cost-competitive exporters to specific premium markets in the future.
“This will become increasingly relevant as limited consumer spending power has curbed domestic consumption growth in recent years,” it said.
South Africa was now self-sufficient in soybean production, while maize production – the other main component of chicken feed – had increased significantly despite a large reduction in the area of maize planted. This was due to advancements in genetics, technology, farming practices, and rotational cropping with soybeans.
