Red Meat Industry Services - Rmis

The Red Meat Industry Strategy 2030 (RMIS, 2021) pointed out that the South African red meat industry has the potential to grow by more than 20% above a “business as usual” scenario, adding more than R12 billion in real terms to South Africa’s agricultural GDP per annum by 2030 (RMIS, 2021). Beef, which traditionally constitutes around 80% of total formal red meat production value, will likely contribute the bulk of this value. With approximately 40-50% of the national herd in the hands of communal and smallholder farmers, the sector can become a dynamic driver of inclusive growth, rural development, employment, and wealth creation for more than 1 million households involved in livestock production, largely in the poorest and most neglected regions of the country (RMIS, 2021). Industry cohesion, strong leadership and structured execution of a co-ordinated strategic plan is required to propel the industry from a marginal surplus producing sub-sector, exporting roughly 5% of beef production, to an inclusive, sustainable and competitive industry which exports closer to 20% of beef production by 2030, with food security benefits for local consumers. The Red Meat, and Livestock Primary Cluster, which is grouped as the Red Meat Abattoir Association (RMAA), the South African Feedlot Association (SAFA), the Red Meat Producers (RPO) and the National Emerging Red Meat Producers (as the Federation) tasked BFAP to draft a “South African Red Meat Industry Strategy 2030”. The aim was to unpack the interactions in the red meat value chain not only from a functional / operational perspective, but also from an institutional perspective, where the general views and interaction of role-players in the industry were taken into consideration, coupled with existing national policy frameworks such as the AAMP and the NDP.