Source: Daily Maverick, 12 January 2022, photo credit: 123RF/romeolu
Onderstepoort Biological Products: Relevant or not?
A group of agricultural organisations and veterinary science experts have raised the alarm about the state of South Africa’s animal vaccine production at Onderstepoort Biological Products, housed at the Onderstepoort veterinary training centre. This is their open letter.
With our economy effectively in intensive care after the Covid-19 devastation, one sector is providing most of the new employment and is in fact one of the few sectors showing growth. This is agriculture.
Agriculture is performing extremely well, providing food, employment and much-needed exports. But are things as rosy as they should be? There could be a black cloud on the horizon that many are aware of, but nobody knows how to handle. It involves, yes, you guessed it, one of South Africa’s more important SOEs.
The livestock sector still represents nearly 50% of the total value of agricultural production in terms of turnover. The sector has generally done well in SA and is one area that is showing expansion in the communal and “emerging” farmer areas as well. It is also an essential part of food security for South Africa and the southern African region.
Farming has been well supported by the government since the early 1900s. Our research capabilities have historically been very good and have created conditions for farmers to thrive on a continent where farming can be notoriously difficult.
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The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) coordinates industry interventions and collaboratively manages risks in the value chain to enable the sustainability and profitability of pork producers in South Africa.
