FairPlay has extended its criticism of the South African government’s refusal to compensate poultry farmers for bird flu culls, saying the policy was probably contributing to the spread of the virus.
Last week, FairPlay founder Francois Baird told News24 that the policy was “nonsensical” – the government encouraged farmers to claim for the chickens they had been ordered to cull, knowing they would receive nothing. Compensation was set in advance at zero on the basis that birds infected by or in contact with the virus had no value.
Baird called on the government to re-evaluate its compensation policy and provide financial support to poultry farmers who abided by the law and culled their chickens according to state directives during bird flu outbreaks.
In a subsequent article in Business Day, Baird said one of the reasons that other countries compensated poultry producers was because it encouraged quick reporting on bird flu outbreaks, enabling swift action to stop the disease spreading. The other was that compensation payments enabled farmers to start up again and keep their workers in jobs.
In South Africa, unfortunately, the reverse is true.
“When poultry farmers know they won’t be compensated for culled birds, they have no incentive to report a flu outbreak in their flocks. The temptation instead is to keep quiet, to delay for as long as possible so as to earn an income in the meantime. Or perhaps they hope that enough birds will survive to enable them to stay in business.
“These delays keep infected birds alive and in contact with others, spreading the virus. Instead of a farm or production facility being quarantined, it stays in business, working with or perhaps even selling infected chickens. This is also a threat to food safety,” Baird said.
“The government know this, which is why the Animal Diseases Act requires that all chickens infected or in contact with bird flu must be isolated and destroyed.
“The refusal to pay compensation runs counter to all these measures. It prevents or delays action against bird flu, and in so doing encourages the spread of the virus.”
Baird explained the difficulties that chicken farmers faced after their birds had been culled, and the huge expenses involved in getting their businesses going again. While the big producers survived, but went from profit to loss, bird flu culls had put many small-scale farmers out of business.
“Poultry farming is a difficult and risky business at the best of times. In the worst of times, such as when farmers have to destroy all the chickens on their farm, they have no flock and no income.
“If they are going to try to stay in business, they have to decontaminate their farm at their own expense. The hen houses have to stay empty for several months before they can be reused. Then new chicks must be bought, along with new stocks of feed, to start again from scratch.
“For many, this has proved too much. They give up rather than face an uncertain and very expensive battle to get going again.
“That is why compensation is so important. It would enable small-scale farmers to restart their businesses and keep their employees in the jobs so that they can feed their families. Yet in SA’s poor rural areas the government is forcing small-scale poultry farmers to close shop and fire their workers.
“It’s heartless, and it doesn’t make sense,” Baird stated.
