The South African government must urgently negotiate with international suppliers of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines, as the financial losses suffered by cattle farmers are increasing by the day, warns Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz. Meanwhile, it has been announced that John Steenhuisen, Minister of Agriculture, will host a media conference today (Wednesday 14 January) to shed light on the extremely worrying foot-and-mouth disease situation in the country.

By Vida Booysen and Alani Janeke, senior journalists at African Farming and Landbouweekblad

The Department of Agriculture should consider sourcing vaccines from a variety of suppliers and not rely primarily on Botswana, says Sihlobo in his latest weekly newsletter. “Another supplier that has been highlighted by some in the industry is Turkey. An agreement with Turkey to determine whether its vaccine can be exported in large volumes to South Africa is now essential.” Vaccinating the entire South African cattle herd is going to be a mammoth task. The sooner this is done, the less damage the disease will cause to the sustainability of the national herd, he warns.

“Few things are as urgent for the South African cattle industry as the need to vaccinate the cattle herd against foot-and-mouth disease. While most of the country was enjoying the December holidays, cattle farmers suffered huge financial losses and FMD continued to spread across various parts of the country. Numerous auctions were cancelled while farmers tried to limit the spread of the disease, but this resulted in significant financial losses for the cattle industry,” says Sihlobo.

Sihlobo admits the Department of Agriculture has a duty to ensure imported vaccines are approved with the necessary scientific care and guidance. “But time is not on our side and farmers are suffering daily losses as the spread of the disease continues to hamper the industry. This forces the department to move much faster with the approval of imported vaccines and to allow farmers to use them.”

Also read: FMD | Potentially dangerous vaccines still being smuggled in

Steenhuisen speaks this week about the state of affairs

Steenhuisen’s conference will be held amid immense uncertainty in the red meat industry and among farmers about the state of the FMD situation, as well as the vaccine shortage currently being experienced. Information is expected on how the government’s strategy to vaccinate the national herd against the disease is progressing.

Steenhuisen announced in a statement that he will brief the media in Parliament on today at 10:00 on the status of FMD in the country, as well as outline the strategy and timelines to vaccinate the national herd in order to achieve FMD-free status with vaccination at the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

The Milk Producers’ Organisation (MPO) said in a letter to its members last week that it is considering legal action against the government to obtain more clarity on the state of affairs and the steps that the organisation says are still outstanding.