… as govt lifts SA chicken ban
Moroke Sekoboto
THE government has lifted the ban on chicken imports from South Africa (SA) while also announcing measures to empower Basotho to produce chickens locally.
From tomorrow, local farmers can import frozen chicken and eggs from the eight provinces of South Africa, save for Gauteng which is said to be still battling the Avian flu, which had caused the October 2023 wholesale ban on the importation of chicken products into Lesotho from SA.
Agriculture Food Security and Nutrition Minister, Thabo Mofosi, told the Lesotho Times this week the government had secured “a clean and constant supply” of fertile eggs for Basotho to produce chicken for the local market.
However, Basotho will need poultry import permits from the Ministry of Agriculture Food Security and Nutrition to import chicken products. This to ensure that they buy from accredited poultry suppliers whose produce has been checked and verified to be free from the chicken influenza.
The ministry will start issuing permits to local farmers to import poultry products as well as inputs and produce chicken locally starting from tomorrow.
This will be a huge relief for the poultry market which has been without chicken products from October last year.
The government had on 12 October 2023 banned poultry products from entering the country due to the Avian flu outbreak in South Africa. Farmers and retailers had lamented how the move had imperiled their businesses. Popular chicken franchise chain, KFC, had even closed operations at one stage.
The government had repeatedly rejected calls to lift the ban, instead encouraging operators to import from other countries such as Botswana, eSwatini, Namibia, Brazil and Turkey.
Speaking to the Lesotho Times this week, Mr Mofosi revealed that the permits which will be issued from tomorrow will allow local farmers and retailers to import poultry products from South African producers whose produce has been tested and approved to be free from Avian flu.
He said the government would also assist in the importation of poultry products from Zambia, Botswana and eSwatini to anyone wanting to source the products from there.
“Lesotho veterinary doctors engaged their South African counterparts in order to find and test poultry products that have not been hit by the Avian flu in South Africa,” Mr Mofosi said.
“Therefore, the ministry will start offering permits from Friday 19 January (tomorrow) for the importation of clean and fertile eggs. This will enable the country to produce chicken locally.
“We will also be importing fertile eggs from Zambia, Botswana and eSwatini …. eSwatini has proved to be a sustainable area for chicken production. So in the meantime we will be importing chicken from them as well.”
Mr Mofosi said while the outbreak of the Avian flu in South Africa had created major problems for the local chicken economy, it had been an eye-opener because the country had realized the need for local production.
“As such the ministry will be engaging the poultry organisations over the importing of poultry products and the production of quality chicken locally,” Mr Mofosi said.
Mr Mofosi indicated his ministry had found viable markets for locally produced poultry products.
“The ministry has negotiated with all the franchises in the country such as restaurants to consume locally produced chicken. We can’t be producing chicken in large scale without the market to supply, hence we negotiated with franchises before the production. The franchises have agreed to buy the locally produced chicken if we supply them with the quality of chicken they demand.
“We have learnt about strategies of producing tested and clean fertile eggs that are not affected by bird influenza. We are preparing to produce in large scale and we will be training our farmers on how to produce clean fertile eggs,” Mr Mofosi said.
In addition, the Ministry’s Chief Agriculture Information Officer, Lereko Masopha, said only frozen chicken and eggs would be allowed to be sourced from South Africa.
“The government had established a taskforce which did research and discovered that the influenza was less likely to be found in frozen chicken and eggs, hence they are the only products allowed to be imported. However, Basotho cannot buy from Gauteng as it remains hit hard by the virus.
“The taskforce has also discovered markets for point of lay chicken in other countries such as eSwatini, Brazil and Turkey. The government has therefore committed to subsidizing the additional costs which farmers would incur if they source from those other countries…..
“The permits are essential to ensure that the farmers buy from accredited suppliers in order to curb the virus from entering the country. Permits will be available from tomorrow and people can start importing immediately after securing them,” Mr Masopha told the Lesotho Times.
