The status of animal health in South Africa is the meat industry’s biggest stumbling block.
Prof Frikkie Maré, the new CEO of the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (RPO), says the biggest cause of animal health problems is a lack of a traceability system.
Speaking at a research conference of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) outside Pretoria, he said that of the 50 countries in Africa, South Africa is the only one without a traceability system.
“We believe we are one of the continent’s leaders, but this is not the case in this regard.”
During a panel discussion on the biggest problems and priorities of various industries, he said if this problem is solved and there is an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, it will be easier to contain, everyone will know where the animals come from and exports can continue.
“At some point, we will also know how many animals we have in the country because there is currently no indication. The last census on this was in 1998.”
Maré said it is difficult to plan ahead without reliable information on how many animals there are. There are many other problems as well, such as predation and stock theft, but he believes the most important issue is to regain the country’s animal health status.
Not our fault
Dipepeneneng Serage, deputy director-general of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, said the delays in traceability are not the government’s fault but the industry’s. He said agriculture has been given the green light to develop traceability systems and the legal framework will follow.
“My door is open. If you are ready with a system, bring it and we will implement it. A system will not come from the department’s side.”
He said legislation on traceability must be created this year because it is constantly discussed in negotiations for new markets.
“There must be progress with traceability in the meat industry this year. It should not be made too complicated and should be a priority.”
In response, Maré said it has dragged on for too long in South Africa, and now various private systems have been developed. The biggest problem is how to combine them.
Issue with plant breeding
Another problem highlighted by Theo Boshoff, CEO of Agbiz, is the department’s insistence on regulating all products grown through new cultivation techniques, such as genome editing, as genetically modified (GM).
“About 40% of our agricultural exports go to African countries. In many of them, there is strong opposition to anything that tends towards GM, and it can cause a trade barrier that we cannot overcome.”
He said the industry realises there must be regulation but it must be targeted. In light of the trade implications, the industry has asked the government reopen the conversation on this.
Dr Miekie Human, research and policy officer of Grain SA, also referred to new cultivation techniques and other new technologies, saying they should be made accessible to everyone. She says for Grain SA, sustainability and profitability are priorities.
“We would like to see the research community proactively finding solutions before crises arise. There is also room to better transfer existing knowledge and technologies to farmers so that it is more accessible to everyone.”
Research helps potatoes
Dirk Uys, manager of research and innovation at Potatoes SA, said research has helped increase the average yield over 50 years from 25 t/ha to 50 t/ha. He says data and digital technology should be used to make better decisions.
“There is a lot of data that can be used but we often tend to try to redesign the wheel, which is not necessary.”
He says one of the problems the industry faces is rising input costs, making it even harder to break even. There needs to be greater cooperation between different commodity groups and with international companies that can come up with innovations.
There may also be an opportunity to do more research on various commodities on research farms.
