Francois Baird Founder of FairPlay, meets with COSATU President, Sdumo Dlamini.

South Africa’s electricity shortages and the spread of bird flu have tipped the country’s largest poultry producer, Astral Foods, into the first loss in its 23-year history.

Astral Foods says that it needs to increase chicken prices to recover losses due to bird flu, load shedding and high input costs. The government says that, if prices go up, it will encourage chicken imports by lifting anti-dumping duties.