The concerning diminishing effectiveness of existing antimicrobial treatments for humans is a direct consequence of the overuse of these same health products for farm animals, including in South Africa. It is an unethical and dangerous situation.
By Lloyd Phillips, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
South Africa’s industrial livestock farming model prioritises profit over welfare, speed over sustainability and volume over value. This is both unethical and dangerous, as the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals – often to compensate for poor welfare conditions – is a major contributor to growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in human health treatments.
This was according to the director of animal welfare organisation Four Paws South Africa, Fiona Miles, during her 2025 State of Animal Welfare Address, which was livestreamed on Wednesday, 13 August.
“Research shows that 73% of antimicrobials globally are used in farmed animals. Often, antimicrobials are used to sustain intensive farming systems that rely on confinement, stress and unnatural growth rates. These systems are breeding grounds for disease, and the antibiotics used to suppress outbreaks are losing their effectiveness,” she said.
“This cycle is not sustainable and undermines food safety, public health and the economic viability of farming itself.”
As an international coalition, Four Paws states it is advocating for a paradigm shift from harmful industrial confinement to healthy, high-welfare, regionally appropriate, resilient, low-impact livestock farming systems. These systems are where animals can express natural behaviours, where disease is prevented through good husbandry and not through routine medication, and where livestock farmers are supported to transition to agroecological models that safeguard food security and are better for animals, people and the planet.
Miles added: “Animal welfare is not a luxury. It is a front-line defence against global health threats.”
She reported that Four Paws is working with the likes of the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the African Union Framework for Antimicrobial Resistance Control and the Animal Welfare Strategy for Africa to have animal welfare integrated into One Health policies and strategies to curb AMR.
Urgent Decommodification Of Livestock
“This is not just advocacy, it is a systems transformation. And it is urgent because when we treat animals as commodities, we create systems that are brittle, unjust and unsafe,” said Miles.
South Africa’s main livestock farming organisations now include the likes of research, education, monitoring and certification systems related to animal health and welfare practices that, among other goals, are intended to minimise risk for AMR in both livestock and humans.
The Red Meat Producers’ Organisation and the National Emergent Red Meat Producers’ Organisation have a Code of Best Practice that their members are encouraged to adhere to. This code includes statements such as “A realisation that there is a critical relationship between animal health and animal welfare” and “Owners and managers should be aware of the irresponsible use of antibiotics and parasiticides as they can cause potential damage to the environment and user, including the development of resistant organisms and parasites. Therefore, these products must never be administered routinely, but only when required.”
The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) has its Pork 360 auditing, monitoring and education system that includes a major emphasis on “antimicrobial stewardship” among both pig farmers and their feed suppliers. This is to assure consumers that the country’s pork products are produced ethically and safely.
Information on SAPPO’s website states: “As an industry, we need to be kept accountable for antibiotic usage and aware of our perceived role in causing antimicrobial resistance. Pork 360 aims to keep producers and consultants accountable for antibiotic usage simply but thoroughly.”
Multi-drug-resistant Livestock Diseases Confirmed
One of the Milk Producers’ Organisation’s Five Pillars of Sustainable Dairy Farming is animal health and welfare that is “largely centred around practices that ensure the physical and psychological well-being of dairy animals”.
The South African Poultry Association has the Poultry Disease Management Agency. Among the latter’s goals is the “reduction of disease levels nationally, including microbials”, “improving veterinary and animal health training within South Africa” and “reducing the levels of [pharmaceuticals] residues in poultry meat through the residue monitoring programme”.
Nevertheless, research reveals that AMR remains a growing threat to South Africa’s human population and demands urgent action. An information search enquiry to Prosus Toqan AI reveals that in parts of South Africa’s livestock sector, there are reportedly already findings of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus sp. and Clostridium perfringens.
Reports by the World Organisation for Animal Health state: “Excessive use of antimicrobials is associated with a rising prevalence of resistant infections and negative ramifications for livestock sector productivity. Without further action to mitigate AMR, annual livestock production losses from drug-resistant bacteria could equal the consumption needs of 746 million people and result in a cumulative global gross domestic product loss of $575 billion [R10.9 trillion] by 2050.
“Good animal husbandry, biosecurity measures and improved welfare practices can lead to reduced disease prevalence, lowering the need for antibiotics and mitigating AMR risks.”
