As the festive season approaches, it’s time to think of local chicken and local jobs.
South Africans will be celebrating not only the holiday period, but also the end of another difficult year because of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
This is a good time to celebrate with chicken, the cheapest and most popular source of animal protein. It’s also a good time to buy local chicken and ensure that you are supporting local jobs.
The FairPlay movement will be working with Proudly South African, which has launched its own “Living Lekker Locally”, a five-year campaign aimed at consumers. It has a broad focus, including chicken, while FairPlay is more targeted. We want wholesalers to buy and distribute South African chicken, retailers to stock it and consumers to buy it.
FairPlay founder Francois Baird has pointed out that, in the last five years, South Africa has imported R30 billion worth of chicken.
“Just imagine the impact on the local economy and local jobs if that money had been invested in producing chicken here,” he said. “Instead it has gone abroad, to finance jobs in Brazil and the European Union. We imported chicken that did not eat South African maize or support jobs in the grain industry.
“Please remember that, especially when you buy chicken this festive season. Buy South African chicken because each mouthful helps another South African to earn money and to feed a family.”
This ties in directly with the Proudly South African campaign. Proudly SA CEO Eustace Mashimbye said job creation was the basis of everything the organisation did.
“Buying local is a driver of job creation,” he said.
