Earlier this month we touched on some of the benefits to South Africa’s black poultry farmers resulting from industry investment in terms of the poultry master plan.
SA Poultry Association (SAPA) chairman Aziz Sulliman said R1.14 billion has been invested so far in expanded production, mainly for black growers, with a further R400 million to come this year. Here are some more details, published on the Farmingportal website.
In addition to creating nearly 10% increased capacity for black farmers, the South African poultry industry has also provided R343 million in finance to cover cash flow for black farmers. This will increase to a total of R466 million this year.
Since 2019, R570 million has been spent on building poultry houses, and this will increase to R750 million by the end of this year.
In addition, extensive training has been provided to help emerging black farmers counter outbreaks of avian influenza, which resulted in South Africa losing 14% of all breeder birds.
SAPA has prioritised training within the sector, focusing on biosecurity, disease identification, management training, as well as financial training. In 2021, biosecurity training reached 1,000 developing farmers to prepare them to better manage the biosecurity risks of avian influenza.
This increased investment, as per the master plan, has led to economic growth increasing by some R2 billion annually in the poultry industry.
“It is further estimated that the economic value the industry contributes to the GDP will increase from R50 billion in 2019 to approximately R56.5 billion by the end of 2022,” SAPA chairman Aziz Sulliman is quoted as saying.
Another area where the poultry master plan is delivering tangible benefits.
Image: Beverly Mhlabane, MD of Zapa Holdings.
