Last week the South African Poultry Association newsletter Fairplay made the startling claim that chicken imports had increased in the last nine months by an incredible 600%.
This was putting the local poultry industry in jeopardy, continued Fairplay, and was all due to the ‘intransigence of government’. The following newsletter doubled down on this statistic, accusing the South African government of ‘creating jobs in Brazil’ against rising joblessness in South Africa.
The problem is that Fairplay’s facts are wrong. In a piece of our own, sent to a number of media outlets and Fairplay itself, we point out the discrepancies and we asked Fairplay to publish our rebuttal.
Fairplay rebuttal
Fine feathers for some emerging poultry farmers
Against the backdrop of doom and gloom from South Africa’s large poultry producers, as represented by Fairplay, smaller producers are facing their own struggles and successes. In this one story from Food For Mzansi, a lab technician decided to try out chicken farming. And in this other story on Briefly an emerging farmer shares her own issues with loadshedding. And in other parts of the country, SABC reports that young farmers are enjoying breakthroughs in their agricultural careers.
Bird Flu hits the Province of the Rising Sun
TimesLive reports an outbreak of bird flu in Mpumalanga caused alarm, especially as it is a hyper-infectious strain. Reuters reported it quite factually, while News24 gave comment from the South African Poultry Association and made the point that it was being spread by wild birds, while The South African listed seven features of the outbreak.
AGOA is still in the News
Farmer’s Weekly discussed the implications of the American request that the AGOA Summit must be moved from South Africa this year because South Africa is not an emerging economy.
From the Test Tube to your Plate – Lab-grown Chicken
Robo-chicken is one step closer. According to SABC news, lab-grown chicken is now approved for sale in the US. Our local farmers can relax, though, from trials it seems that the artificial meat just lacks that little something thatmakes our fast food so tasty.
