As South Africa battles foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) while staring down uncertainty over African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) market access beyond 2026, an industry leader has warned that the country’s R80 billion livestock recovery will not be decided in boardrooms or trade negotiations, but on farms, by the workers who manage livestock every day.
By Lebogang Mashala, Editor at African Farming
According to Merel van der Lei, CEO of workforce communication platform Wyzetalk, the country’s ambitious 10-year FMD strategy and its future participation in AGOA beyond 2026 are inseparable challenges that must be addressed simultaneously.
On the one hand, government has embarked on a national FMD stabilisation programme anchored by mass vaccination, an effort critical to safeguarding an estimated R80 billion livestock industry. On the other hand, exporters face mounting uncertainty over South Africa’s eligibility for AGOA once the current dispensation expires, despite US President Donald Trump’s recent renewal of the programme.
“AGOA may be the ticket that makes our agricultural exports financially viable through duty-free access, but FMD-free status is the passport that allows those products to cross borders in the first place,” Van der Lei said.
She cautioned that success on one front without the other would leave the sector exposed. “We cannot trade if our products are barred on animal health grounds. At the same time, regaining FMD-free status means little if higher tariffs price South African products out of key markets.”
The Credibility Challenge
Although vaccination is central to the current stabilisation phase, Van der Lei warned that vaccines alone cannot restore international confidence.
Global trade partners, she said, are increasingly focused on proof of operational biosecurity, not policy intent. “Credibility is built on what happens on farms every day, and that depends on the people managing livestock on the ground.”
Farmworkers are responsible for early disease detection, enforcing movement controls and maintaining hygiene protocols. Yet many remain disconnected from the digital systems underpinning disease surveillance and traceability.
“Vaccination is a tool, not a silver bullet,” she said. “Biosecurity is behavioural. It is shaped by daily actions in paddocks, kraals and feedlots.”
Also read: FMD outbreaks reshape economic outlook for South Africa’s livestock sector
Worker Anxiety and Misinformation Risks
Agriculture employs about 5% of South Africa’s workforce, making it one of the country’s most labour-intensive sectors. For farmworkers, FMD outbreaks pose not only an animal health risk but also a direct threat to livelihoods.
Past crises illustrate the stakes. During the 2011 avian influenza outbreak in the ostrich industry, production collapsed and thousands of workers lost their jobs.
Van der Lei said such conditions create fertile ground for misinformation. “When workers are uncertain about their jobs and are not reached with clear, trusted communication, rumours take over.”
She noted that during recent global bird flu outbreaks, conspiracy theories flourished, undermining compliance with biosecurity measures. “If workers believe a disease is exaggerated or fabricated, or fear reporting symptoms, biosecurity breaks down.”
Digital Inclusion as a Biosecurity Tool
South Africa’s FMD recovery strategy relies heavily on digital livestock identification, traceability systems and real-time outbreak reporting. However, these systems are only as effective as the data they receive.
“When farmworkers lack digital access or literacy, reporting becomes delayed,” Van der Lei said. “That turns biosecurity data into a lagging indicator, rather than an early-warning system.”
This, she warned, weakens disease response and undermines the assurances required to reopen markets such as China, which suspended South African beef imports in 2025.
Also read: FMD | Understanding requested for cash-strapped livestock farmers
From Compliance to Participation
Van der Lei stressed that effective disease control requires moving beyond top-down instruction to active workforce engagement.
This includes providing farmworkers with simple digital channels to report suspected symptoms or biosecurity breaches, delivering multilingual, bite-sized training in plain language, and ensuring visible leadership communication that addresses fears and dispels misinformation.
People at the Centre of Recovery
As vaccination programmes continue, Van der Lei said the success of South Africa’s FMD stabilisation phase will ultimately depend on millions of daily decisions made by agricultural workers.
“If South Africa want to protect its livestock industry, secure export markets and rebuild global confidence, it must start by uniting the people on the ground,” she said.
“By bridging the gap between the boardroom and the field, farmworkers can become the country’s strongest line of defence and its most credible asset in the fight against FMD.”
Also read: South Africa’s AGOA future increasingly uncertain
