I refer to a number of your recent reports regarding job losses in the poultry industry. Job losses are tragic whatever their cause, and in our current dire economic climate, even more so. But let us at least be honest in our analysis of the primary causes. Local poultry producers have indeed been hard hit by drought and consequently high feed prices, which have devastated their financial performances. However, this is a cyclical problem in a world where weather conditions are constantly changing at a time of unpredictable and severe climate change. Local producers therefore need to interrogate and modify their own business plans to limit the damage caused by such natural phenomena. Depicting imports as a major contributor to their problems is disingenuous — imports do not dominate this sector of the economy, comprising less than 15% of local chicken consumption. They merely act as a balance between supply and demand and provide the South African consumer with a choice of unbrined p...
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