Boosting South Africa’s poultry exports are high on the government’s list of agricultural priorities this year.
Exports are a key pillar of the revised poultry master plan. The objective is to nearly treble exports from the current 3% of production to 8% by 2028 and position the poultry industry for global competitiveness.
At the poultry expo AVI Africa this month, three government speakers, including agriculture minister John Steenhuisen, laid a heavy emphasis on exports.
Steenhuisen spoke of the urgent need for an increase in agricultural exports, and promised the government would fast-track processes, improve efficiencies and remove bottlenecks.
“Market access is the difference between survival and success for any farmer,” he said.
“We are committed to leveraging trade agreements like the SADC-EU EPA and BRICS to unlock new destinations for our exports.
“We will fast-track export protocols, enhance biosecurity to meet international standards, and ensure our international outreach is professional, responsive and strategic,” he stated.
“We will build a dedicated export register to track and remove bottlenecks.”
The agriculture department was also coordinating more closely with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to resolve delays in communicating with other governments, and to support exporters in accessing new opportunities, he said.
Gauteng MEC Vuyiswa Ramokgopa underscored the urgency of enabling export growth, describing the poultry master plan as “a roadmap to creating a globally competitive poultry industry.”
She emphasised that robust infrastructure and biosecurity are essential enablers of this strategy. She said the government was exploring public-private partnerships to mitigate electricity shortages and improve critical infrastructure. This would ensure the sector’s resilience and readiness to compete on the international stage.
Exports are one of the poultry master plan’s five strategic pillars, alongside strengthening trade measures to guard against predatory imports. The government is targeting export-driven growth through improved biosecurity, trade measures, and market access.
Ms. Ncumisa Mcata-Hlauli, Chief Director at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, noted that “addressing export barriers was a key focus of the (master plan’s) first phase,” and that Phase 2 is now “firmly geared towards unlocking the sector’s global potential.”
Between 2019 and 2024, poultry exports grew by 17%, she said, with a further 11% increase recorded in Q3–Q4 of FY2024/25, despite disruptions such as the bird flu outbreak.
The poultry industry was now actively targeting high-value markets including the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the Mercosur group of South American countries.
Mcata-Hlauli highlighted that blended finance tools and stronger biosecurity frameworks are critical to sustaining this growth, while emphasising that “export readiness must be built on both resilience and strategic investment.”
