The poultry industry wants the government to foot the bill for avian flu vaccination as it races against time to achieve herd immunity before another outbreak.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, remains a global concern, with fears of further outbreaks this year.
In 2023 the poultry industry suffered its worst bird flu outbreak, resulting in the culling of millions of chickens and costing the industry about R10bn. In July last year, the industry began its vaccination process, but that has since stalled while awaiting government approvals.
Izaak Breitenbach, South African Poultry Association (Sapa) CEO, said the immediate priority was to start vaccinations.
“The first point for us is to get vaccinated — get approval for vaccination and get mass vaccination going. And after we’ve achieved that, we will discuss with [agriculture minister John Steenhuisen] the financing of the vaccination process, or the vaccines themselves.
“One thing worth mentioning that differs from the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak [among cattle] and chickens is the fact that we do not have a shortage of vaccines. The three vaccines that we’ve got registered for avian influenza are all available in the country.
Bird flu is spreading around the world and could easily become South Africa’s next agricultural and food security crisis
— FairPlay
“If the minister gives us permission to vaccinate tomorrow, we can start vaccinating, and we should not run out of vaccines.”
This week Steenhuisen announced that the government would cover the full cost of vaccinating the national cattle herd against foot-and-mouth disease.
FairPlay, a not-for-profit advocacy movement, said the lack of progress in the poultry sector stemmed from the agriculture department continuing to insist on requirements that the industry considers too complex and costly to implement.
“Poultry producers have pleaded for a more practical and affordable set of rules so that they can get vaccinations under way, but so far to no avail,” it said.
According to Sapa, a few broiler breeder farms have already been approved for vaccination against bird flu, under the existing protocols.
FairPlay warned that “bird flu is spreading around the world and could easily become South Africa’s next agricultural and food security crisis”.
It said the stalled HPAI vaccination programme stands in sharp contrast to the rapid rollout of a vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease for the country’s cattle farmers.
“Both are controlled diseases requiring vaccinations to be managed by the government,” said FairPlay.
Steenhuisen said discussions around vaccination protocols have been taking place through existing technical and industry engagement platforms involving the agriculture department, veterinary experts and representatives of the poultry sector.
“Avian influenza vaccination is a complex regulatory matter that must balance disease control with the need to protect South Africa’s export credibility and food safety systems. The department must therefore ensure that any vaccination programme is implemented within internationally accepted veterinary and biosecurity frameworks.”
He said progress was already being made under the current regulatory protocol.
“To date, the directorate for animal health has approved 10 poultry farms to participate in vaccination, with a further application currently under evaluation. Several of these farms have already commenced vaccination in line with the approved requirements.”
Steenhuisen said South Africa’s approach is aligned with global best practice, where vaccination programmes are implemented in a controlled and traceable manner to ensure that disease surveillance, reporting and market access obligations are not compromised.
“This is particularly important for maintaining the integrity of South Africa’s animal health status and protecting agricultural trade,” he said.
Asked whether the poultry industry had benefited from the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak — which has pushed up beef prices — Dr Tracy Davids from the Bureau of Food and Agricultural Policy said higher beef prices had stimulated demand for alternative meat products.
We have seen consumers switching to other proteins, especially chicken, as well as processed meats such as viennas and russians
— Pieter Engelbrecht, Shoprite CEO
“I think the poultry industry is also well positioned as consumers look to alternatives, and with a short production cycle, you can ramp up production quite quickly and faster than some of the other alternatives. So that also is an advantage.”
Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said rising beef prices were already influencing consumer behaviour.
“With 20% inflation on beef, it’s had an impact on sales. Pork is now at R65/kg, whereas six months ago it was about R36 and the cheapest meat you could buy, even cheaper than chicken. We have seen consumers switching to other proteins, especially chicken, as well as processed meats such as viennas and russians,” he said.
South Africa’s poultry industry slaughters about 23-million birds a week and generated R74bn in turnover last year.
The industry is also seeking export opportunities in Europe, the UK and the Middle East to diversify its revenue streams.
According to Breitenbach, “exports are very important for us to earn revenue and open new markets”.
“Our [domestic] market is stagnant at the moment. That is one of the key strategic issues for this industry.”
The industry had made submissions for cooked poultry exports to those regions.
“We are waiting for inspections. Should we get approval, it will still take about a year because we will have to submit sample results to prove, for example, that there are no antibiotics in our chicken,” he said.
South Africa imported more than 500,000 tonnes of chicken in 2018, but after changes to the tariff structure and intermittent bird flu outbreaks in several countries, total imports fell to less than 400,000 tonnes by 2024.
“Should we get to the point where we can mass vaccinate and control the virus spread, that will materially improve our competitiveness to export chicken into our target countries,” Breitenbach said.
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