Poultry farmers in South Africa say they have had to cull almost 10 million chicks due to the country’s energy crisis. Record blackouts have slowed production, creating a processing backlog and no room for chicks. Farmer groups warn that if the power outages are not resolved soon, South Africa’s long-term food security could suffer.
South Africa’s struggling state power company Eskom this week eased power cuts that, since December, had forced homes and businesses without power for up to 10 hours a day.
However, Eskom says that rolling blackouts will continue for at least another year to avoid a total grid collapse.
Record power outages are crippling South Africa’s economy and hurting production, including food.
Izaak Breytenbach, general manager of the South African Poultry Association, said the power crisis means slaughterhouses or slaughterhouses cannot operate in the usual 24-hour schedule.
“When we bring chickens to a slaughterhouse, there is a water bath with an electric stunner and that is the main approved method of slaughtering chickens,” he said. “And then, in that whole process where we cut the chicken, the temperature is controlled in the slaughterhouse.”
Breytenbach says a lack of power to run the machines cut production by a quarter, leading to delays and overcrowding at poultry farms.
The association says farmers were forced to cull 10 million chicks in just a few weeks.
Breytenbach warned that if the government does not address the power shortage soon, the price of chicken will rise even more than last year, when Russia’s war against Ukraine sent feed prices soaring.
“We have seen a material increase in chicken prices of around 17% in the period 2021 to 2022,” he said.
The drop in production could lead to a chicken shortage in South Africa and job losses in a country with an unemployment rate of 33%.
Guarantee the quality and safety of food
Theo Boshoff, chief executive of the South African Chamber of Agricultural Business, said the entire food production chain is affected by power outages.
“It’s just up and down the value chain,” he said. “If you think about primary agriculture; watering especially during this time is peak summer. The cold chain is absolutely critical, so that’s where the biggest risk lies, of course, to ensure the quality and safety of the food.”
Boshoff said the chamber is conducting a survey to determine the cost to South African agriculture.
He said the farmers met with Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza on January 13 to discuss the problem and request an exemption from power cuts.
“It’s a tough question in the current climate,” he said. “Currently we don’t have enough generation online, so if you have an exemption for one sector, that means you’ll have to phase out another sector.”
He said the ministry has agreed to appoint a working group on the issue and is expected to report back next week.
South Africa’s aging power plants have been forced to introduce power cuts since 2008 amid corruption scandals involving the state-owned power company, Eskom.
The shortage worsened in the last two years and Eskom had to cut power for more than 200 days in 2022, the most in a calendar year.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa this week canceled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos for urgent meetings on the blackouts.
Despite the shortage, the government last week announced an 18% increase in the price of power this year, but could not say when the power cuts will end.
