The drive to expand poultry exports is no longer just an industry goal, but a vital national imperative. By scaling international trade, the government can unlock a sustainable stream of foreign currency, promote large-scale job creation, and fortify national food security through a more resilient and globally integrated agricultural value chain.
Key takeaways:
- Strategic market shift: To sustain growth and create jobs, the industry must transition from serving domestic and neighbouring countries to securing high-potential markets like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Europe.
- Government and infrastructure needs: Success hinges on increased state support, specifically the hiring of more veterinary staff and the upgrade of laboratories to enable health certification of chicken exports.
- Accountability and partnerships: Industry advocates argue that Phase 2 of the poultry master plan requires more aggressive cooperation from meat traders and “top-down” enthusiasm from government departments to avoid the stagnation seen in previous years.
Why the chicken export drive has to succeed.
“We are not exporting enough”.
That simple statement from Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association (SAPA) highlights the need for South African poultry producers to sell more chicken abroad.
Increased chicken exports have been identified as essential for the poultry industry’s continued growth. The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) said growth opportunities in the domestic South African market would diminish, and the country should exploit a substantial export potential.
For the same reason, a renewed export drive is one of the pillars of the revised poultry master plan, signed last month by government, the poultry industry and meat traders. The plan is to expand exports from neighbouring states, which take most of South Africa’s chicken exports, to new markets in the Middle East and Europe.
In the Middle East, the industry is looking to expand sales to United Arab Emirates (UAE) and open up Saudi Arabia as a new market.
However, a planned South African trade mission to those countries has been cancelled because of the Iran conflict. Poultry producers would have been part of the delegation.
In an interview with Business Day, Breitenbach regretted the cancellation of those potential export discussions. He also said exports of cooked chicken to the UAE had been halted by the war.
“We’re not exporting enough,” he said. “We need strategically to change this industry from a local industry to an export industry as well.
“We only export about 2% to 3% of production, about 50 000 tonnes per annum. That is quite small and all of that product will go to our neighbouring states.”
More government enthusiasm needed for chicken exports, says FairPlay.
FairPlay has called on the government and meat exporters to do more to promote the export drive for South African chicken.
In an article in Business Report, FairPlay founder Francois Baird said the chicken export bonanza envisaged in the 2019 poultry master plan had not happened. A new export campaign under Phase 2 of the master plan would only succeed if previous failures were addressed.
These failures could be attributed to government departments and to chicken traders in the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE), all of whom are signatories to the revised master plan.
The departments of agriculture and of trade and industry had been helpful in the first master plan phase, Baird said, but not helpful enough.
“More energy is required,” he stated. Areas where improvements were needed included investment in more state veterinary staff and facilities to provide health certificates for chicken exports, and the government-to-government contacts needed to start and maintain export agreements with other countries.
Baird noted that the chicken export drive would require more support from meat traders in AMIE.
“They frequently have a lot to say about chicken imports, but they have been strangely silent on the issue of exports, which could help make up for their declining import revenue.
“Surely exporters can help spot opportunities, identify potential markets and facilitate contacts in countries where they already operate? Where is their chicken export strategy?”
The master plan had to be driven by “enthusiasm from the top” in government departments.
“The revised master plan requires details, responsibilities, a timeline, money and determined oversight to ensure that things happen. Failure to act on investment and oversight led to the export failures of Phase 1 of the masterplan. They are all essential if Phase 2 is to succeed,” Baird said.
