Government and industry's efforts to control animal disease spread must be lauded

Loading player...
The past three years have been challenging for South Africa's livestock and poultry industry because of the spread of animal diseases. Throughout this period, we have had various cases of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle, African swine fever in pigs, and avian influenza in poultry. While animal disease outbreaks are not unique to South Africa and indeed common across the world, South Africa's challenges have intensified in the recent past.

The cost of diseases in the livestock industry is felt through the loss of livestock and reduced exports to the world market in times of outbreaks.

However, the county is now taking significant steps to control the spread of the disease.

On October 25, 2024, the Department of Agriculture released even more positive news, which we believe will further support the recovery path of the industry. The Department announced that the "foot and mouth disease outbreak, which occurred during 2021-2022, has been successfully resolved in the North West, Free State, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga Provinces. These provinces, initially impacted by the outbreak, have now completed comprehensive testing of animals on quarantined farms. The results indicate that the foot and mouth disease virus is no longer present."

My writing on agricultural economic matters is available on my blog: https://wandilesihlobo.com/

This podcast is produced by Richard Humphries, Sam Mkokeli and Amanda Murimba.
3 Nov 2024 English South Africa Investing · Food

Other recent episodes

The African governments must help farmers

The African government must do everything possible to assist farmers during the 2025-26 production season. In the past, when confronted with disasters and food shortages, we had relied on organisations such as the World Food Programme for assistance. This time around, the World Food Programme is no longer fit to…
13 Nov 10 min

Agricultural job prospects remain positive in South Africa

South Africa’s agriculture continues to create job opportunities, and its long-term job creation prospects remain positive. If we look at the high-frequency data for a moment, the number of farm jobs in South Africa has increased slightly from the second quarter of 2025, by 2% to 920k in the third…
12 Nov 12 min

South Africa's 2025-26 winter crop production prospects remain positive

This is a busy period in South African farming. The summer crop farmers are tilling the land for the new season, table grape farmers are harvesting, and the winter crop farmers are harvesting. South Africa’s 2025-26 winter wheat season began at the start of October. But we are seeing that…
9 Nov 8 min