South Africa’s poultry sector intends to, under the leadership of  Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister Zuko Godlimpi, pursue an export-driven growth strategy to advance the South African economy. 

During a recent visit to Rainbow Chicken’s plant in Rustenburg, in the North West, Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) agroprocessing chief director Ncumisa Mcata-Mhlauli said the Phase 2 masterplan framework to guide the implementation of this strategy was under development through a collaborative action between government, industry and all social partners.

The  Poultry Sector Master Plan 2030 was signed off in November 2019.

Phase 1 of the masterplan concluded in 2023, and had a focus seeking to address a number of serious challenges faced by the poultry industry, including high feed costs, export barriers, as well as increasing imports primarily from Brazil and the US.

According to Mcata-Mhlauli, the second phase of the masterplan will mainly focus on growth driven by exports of cooked meat and local demand increase strategies, effective trade measures, biosecurity measures for local and export markets and transformation of the poultry industry, among others.

“The other focus areas proposed by the social partners include addressing food security and malnutrition; a proposal on value-added tax exemption for some poultry products; funding; and other support for contract farmers and small businesses, with job creation, job-loss mitigation and transformation as cross-cutting themes.

“The ongoing process to finalise and sign off the Phase 2 framework is being facilitated through the convener’s structure of the masterplan and bilaterals with constituencies represented,” said Mcata-Mhlauli.

Mcata-Mhlauli also highlighted the dtic’s role in trade support for the poultry industry and pointed out its importance in ensuring protection of the industry against imports, as well as the promotion of exports.

“It is important for us to engage with the industry on several issues that require collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.

“This partnership is essential to provide primary support to farmers, ensuring there is sufficient production to feed the nation. Most importantly, government needs to support the investment efforts of the industry enabling optimal employment of existing capacities created as this will ensure sustainable growth of the industry envisaged,” added Mcata-Mhlauli.

The poultry industry is the largest contributor to the agricultural sector with a total yearly gross value of production of almost R72-billion in 2022, accounting for 17.1% of the total agricultural gross value.

In the period from 2019 to 2023, the aggregate chicken meat inclusive of fresh, frozen, whole and offal achieved 6% growth in exports.