Oh, why you look so sad? Tears are in your eyes. Donʼt be ashamed to cry . . .ʼCause Iʼve seen the dark side too . . .”, as The Pretenders would let you have in their 1994 Grammy Award winning song, I’ll Stand by You.It was quite fitting as I sat down to write this piece on January 16, ‘the Blue Monday’. January 16 is said to be the ‘saddest day of the year’, and this is substantiated by Dr Cliff Arnall’s formula, which considers factors such as the weather at this time of year, people’s probable level of debt, time after Christmas and New Year’s resolutions, generally lower motivation levels and feeling a need to act.

On January 16, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) issued a media release titled ‘Government Support Will Help Transform Poultry Industry, Ensure Food Security’. Chickens are always quite topical in South Africa’s trade, both nationally and internationally. In the latter part of 2022, I wrote three columns – on August 19, titled ‘Chickenomics’; on September 2, ‘Root causes of food inflation’; and on November 25, ‘No spring chicken’. Spoiler alert: expect a few columns in 2023 – if not on trade remedies, then on the Poultry Sector Master Plan.

In its release, the DTIC cited the CEO and MD of Baramakama Poultry, a family-owned egg-laying chicken company, as saying: “The support that government provides to black-owned companies operating in the poultry industry will contribute significantly in transforming the industry and ensuring that there is food security in the country. However, it is imperative for government to realise that the sustainability of these businesses depends on black companies occupying the entire value chain of the industry.”

According to the release, Baramakama received support “to the tune of R50-million” from the DTIC and the Industrial Development Corporation as part of the Black Industrialists Programme, which is part of government’s efforts to accelerate the quantitative and qualitative increase and participation of black industrialists in the South African economy – in selected industrial sectors and value chains. The release states that the support has been noticeably impactful, as Baramakama has managed to increase the premises’ carrying capacity from 100 000 hens to 280 000 after the infrastructural expansion, with the operation running 24 hours daily and on average producing 225 000 eggs per day at full capacity.

However, Baramakama contends: “Government support needs to cut across the value chain, if we want meaningful transformation of the industry and if we want black industrialists to play an important and discernible role in food security in the country. This includes feed production, hatcheries, abattoirs, chick rearing, processing, as well as market access.”

Interestingly, Baramakama “does not pin all his hopes on the Poultry Sector Master Plan”, which was developed in close partnership between government and several stakeholders in the industry, including poultry producers, processors, exporters, importers and organised labour. The masterplan has five pillars, with commitments from stakeholders to achieve the necessary reforms in (i) expanding and improving local production, (ii) driving domestic demand, (iii) driving exports, (iv) enhancing the regulatory framework to ensure compliance, and (v) trade measures to support the local industry.

Baramakama Poultry believes that “most strategic decisions taken within the Poultry Master Plan depend much on the existing large players in the industry, who, through their actions, do not easily allow black players into the more profitable value chain channels”. But Baramakama Poultry “remains resolute and hopeful that with more black players in the value chain, the industry will not only transform, but allow healthy competition to the benefit of all participants”.

That said, be cognisant of one of the DTIC’s own ‘key challenges’ for the masterplan: “High cost and unreliability of electricity supply, rising fuel prices and challenges in some areas with water supply.”