South Africa’s largest poultry producers should maintain their dominance in the market
so that the country remains globally competitive, the SA Poultry Association
(Sapa) said on Sunday.
This comes as the US threatened on Friday to suspend South Africa’s benefits from
the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) unless there was agreement on
outstanding issues around meat, poultry and pork within 60 days.
The surprise move prompted discussion about the state of the poultry
industry in SA, with voices raised in favour of encouraging the development of
black, small-holding chicken farmers to enter the space to feed the country’s
ever-growing demand for chicken.
Sapa CEO Kevin Lovell said curbing imports would create more domestic
opportunity, but economies of scale still applied. "Small producers won’t
necessarily have the economic efficiencies required to compete," he said.
Mr Lovell proposed that the government should manage imports. The
association is also pushing for poultry to be declared a designated product for
government procurement.
