The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) is calling on government to allow neighbouring countries to export their eggs to South Africa as the shortages caused by the avian flu persist.
SAPA has urged government to allow supplies from countries including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and Malawi.
The bird flu outbreak has affected poultry in all provinces, except in the Northern Cape. The Association says in an effort to stamp the disease, 7.5 million chickens have been culled so far.
This has led to a reported increase in the prices of poultry meat and eggs.
CEO of SAPA Dr Abongile Balarane says, “It’s very rare for us to import from them, usually they import from us. But currently because of the situation that we have, they’ve got some stocks available for us but now we need to open that officially through the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and Veterinary Service. Fortunately, some of the SADC countries have got different alternatives for protein sources, so you’ve got also farmers also like let’s say a farmer from South Africa, who’s also farming in Angola. So, such farmers they can be able to move the stocks from one farm to another. But of course, as I’ve mentioned, that will require the permission and the issuing of the permits.”
