For South Africa to maintain its current access to red meat, wool and other livestock products, it must continue to strengthen its biosecurity and revive vaccine manufacturing
The downside of excessive rain on livestock is typically through the prevalence of certain animal diseases. It is not unusual to hear farmers discuss Rift Valley fever and heartwater, among other diseases, during rainy seasons.
There are vaccines available to address such diseases, but access to some of these can be difficult for smallholder farmers.
This is not yet our reality in much of South Africa, although I have recently highlighted the problem of excessive rainfall primarily affecting crops.
It is perhaps fair to say that we are generally happy with the better grazing veld after the recent rains. The improved grazing veld helps somewhat ease some farmers’ feed costs.
Still, in areas such as the Karoo, which has also received favourable rains this year, I hear of bluetongue disease in sheep. This means we may hear of some casualties for some farmers there. It also means that in regions that wouldn’t typically require close monitoring and vaccines, one would have to pay closer attention during such a wet season.
The bigger point is that the erratic weather conditions mean South Africa may experience frequent occurrences of animal and crop diseases. This means that as a country, we must channel more resources into research and have flexible and agile regulations to allow the registration of necessary vaccines.
The starting point could be revitalising Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP), a state-owned vaccine manufacturer, and the Agricultural Research Council.
The OBP has, for some time, experienced difficulties with vaccine manufacturing, and South Africa has had to rely on importing products from countries such as Botswana. Rooting out corruption and rebuilding capacity in these organisations is crucial to driving South Africa’s agricultural sector.
While we don’t often acknowledge it, the livestock and poultry subsectors account for roughly half of South Africa’s farming fortunes. Therefore, to ensure solid growth in farming, we must devote sufficient resources and human capital to strengthening biosecurity, encompassing both animal and plant health.
The current wet season will not be the last. And we are fortunate that we do not share many reports of frequent disease occurrences.
Still, it should serve as a reminder that if this becomes a common occurrence in the future, South Africa must have sufficient capacity to manufacture the required vaccines the country may need for its livestock.
This does not need to be solely the state’s responsibility; collaboration with the private sector, as has been the case and emphasised in the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan, must be the path forward.
Strengthening animal health is also key to South Africa’s ambition for red meat exports. The livestock industry also has access to a range of export markets, including China, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Mozambique, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Mauritius and the Seychelles.
The Red Meat Industry Services, the South African Pork Producers’ Organisation, the National Animal Health Forum, and the South African Poultry Association are among the key organisations driving this effort collaboratively with the government.
Wandile Sihlobo is the chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa.