The Southern African Poultry Value Chain: Regional Development versus National Imperatives

This research paper examines the poultry value chain in Southern Africa, highlighting the dominance of vertically integrated South African firms and the obstacles preventing the formation of a coordinated regional value chain (RVC).

• The development of agribusiness regional value chains (RVCs) in Southern Africa is hindered by scale asymmetries between South Africa and other regional nations, trade barriers used for infant industry protection, a lack of harmonized standards and labelling, and insufficient competition to drive technology upgrades.
• South African vertically integrated firms lead the regional poultry value chain through investments in other countries and downstream activities, primarily to serve local markets because finished poultry imports are protected. These firms typically do not export to other countries in the region.
• While small RVCs exist for breeding stock (from South Africa and Zambia) and soybeans and maize (from Zambia to Zimbabwe), the region remains a net importer of chicken and soybean meal. South Africa is the region's lowest-cost chicken producer, while Zimbabwe is the highest-cost producer among those studied.
• Zambia has become a net exporter of soybean and oilcake, but prices remain higher than imports from Argentina. Establishing a substantial soybean RVC between Zambian production and South African crushing would require investment in production and storage.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2017). The Southern African Poultry Value Chain: Regional Development versus National Imperatives. https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/the-southern-african-poultry-value-chain-regional-development-versus-national-imperatives/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. The Southern African Poultry Value Chain: Regional Development versus National Imperatives. 2017. https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/the-southern-african-poultry-value-chain-regional-development-versus-national-imperatives/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=The Southern African Poultry Value Chain: Regional Development versus National Imperatives |date=18 April 2017 |url=https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/the-southern-african-poultry-value-chain-regional-development-versus-national-imperatives/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2017southern, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{The Southern African Poultry Value Chain: Regional Development versus National Imperatives}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/the-southern-african-poultry-value-chain-regional-development-versus-national-imperatives/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }