South Africa faces food insecurity after Brazilian poultry ban

By Mark Ogagan

South Africa is confronting a looming food security crisis after the government’s ban on poultry imports from Brazil threatens the supply of millions of affordable meals per month, industry experts have warned.

The ban, enforced on 15 May by the Department of Agriculture, prohibits imports of live poultry, eggs and fresh or frozen poultry meat due to the recent outbreak of bird flu in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

The measure has severely disrupted the supply of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) and poultry offal, essential for low-cost processed meats such as polony, viennas, Russians and sausages in South Africa.

The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE) warned that local producers cannot bridge the supply gap, leading to rising food prices and restricted access to basic protein sources.

“Local producers cannot, and will not, be able to meet the gap in supply of poultry offal (feet, gizzards and skins) and MDM, driving up prices and threatening the affordability and accessibility of basic protein for millions,” it said.

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of poultry products, and accounts for 73 percent of poultry imported by South Africa, including frozen bone-in chicken and offal (feet, livers, necks and carcasses).

It is also the source of 92 percent of all MDM – a vital ingredient in processed meat products – imported to South Africa. A monthly average of 18,000 metric tonnes was imported from Brazil over the past year.

AMIE chief executive Imameleng Mothebe said Brazilian MDMs are the source of more than 400 million poultry-based meals per month for South Africa.

“Chicken offal and MDM are not luxuries. They are foundational to school feeding programmes, and the production of processed meats, which are the most affordable proteins for low-income households,” Mothebe said.

This means that South Africa could lose 400 million school feeding meals per month if the ban remains in force.

AMIE urged the government to revise the ban, suggesting a targeted restriction on poultry only from Rio Grande do Sul, the sole Brazilian state affected by the outbreak.