Elizna Erasmus, Bupo Animal Health’s Biosecurity Specialist

Biosecurity should not be just a word but should be an action, according to the Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa (RuVASA).

For many stakeholders in the livestock industry, the recent news of the appointment of a Ministerial Task Team on Animal Biosecurity seems like a silver bullet - a simple and seemingly magical solution to a complicated problem.

SA’s agricultural sector has had two consecutive years of strong growth, with expansion in all sub-sectors — livestock, field crops and horticulture.

With South Africa focused on expanding its red meat and livestock product exports, strengthening biosecurity is essential to this ambition.

Animal and plant health is the bedrock of a thriving agricultural industry and its export strategy. The success of South Africa's agricultural export strategy over the past few decades, which has seen the value of exports growing from US$2,4 billion in 2001 to US$13,7 billion in 2024, speaks to the strength of the controls over that period.

The persistent concerns about animal diseases in South Africa's agriculture today appear to be unabated.

Every day, producers work hard to protect their crops from threats they can see – drought, pests, diseases, weeds. But some of the biggest risks are the ones that arrive quietly,
often unnoticed, until the damage is done.

Major changes in how South Africa prevents and deals with outbreaks of plant and animal diseases, including foot-and-mouth disease, could be on the horizon.