The introduction of a tariff on imported poultry following the implementation of a ‘Poultry Master Plan’ signed in November last year has resulted in one million additional chickens being produced locally every week.
That’s according to poultry industry executives who met with the minister of trade, industry and competition, Ebrahim Patel, and the minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development, Thoko Didiza, yesterday to review the success of the programme.
The new tariff provides greater protection for local producers – and thanks to the new duty structure, 145 300 tons of poultry is now being produced by local firms every month.
Capacity expansion in the sector has been stepped up, with R1.1 billion invested in upgrading and improving the efficiency of facilities.
930 new jobs have been created in the sector as a result of the increased investment, while cooking capacity for poultry meat exports has increased by 65 tons per week, according to minister Didiza.
She said poultry imports were down 17% in the first 10 months of this year compared to the same period last year.
“This was despite a decline in chicken consumption during the initial lockdown period,” she added.
As part of a campaign to sustain the progress made during the past year, industry stakeholders have agreed to launch a ‘buy local chicken, eat South African poultry’ campaign over the Christmas period.
They have prioritised the European Union, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar as well as several African countries as export markets. Some South African companies were already exporting precooked meat to the Middle East, especially to Qatar, she said.
“In a difficult year, we have seen promising gains in the South African poultry industry. We have had more than R1 billion invested by domestic companies, resulting in nearly 1 000 additional jobs and an encouraging increase in production. The next year will require more work to open up export markets and further drive transformation across the entire poultry value chain,” said minister Patel.
The SA Poultry Association noted that the poultry industry had invested heavily in the masterplan this year, allocating R1.14bn to grow production capacity by 5% or approximately 1m birds per week for slaughter.
The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE) said it was committed not only to the poultry masterplan but to the deliverables required – and those involve the growth of the export market.
