The ongoing foot-and-mouth disease (FMD / bek-en-klouseer) outbreak in South Africa, which escalated dramatically in 2025 and continues into early 2026, has inflicted severe economic damage on farmers, the livestock sector, and consumers, compounded by recent heavy rains in key areas like Limpopo and Mpumalanga. For farmers, the crisis has been devastating. Movement restrictions, quarantines, and export bans have slashed income, often leaving producers without viable outlets for their cattle.
Major feedlots (e.g., Karan Beef, affecting over 100,000 cattle) have faced production pauses, backlogs, and cashflow crises, with some operations running below capacity or idle. Slaughter numbers in 2025 reportedly dropped 5–7% from 2024, and total meat production fell 13–15% due to smaller animals and supply disruptions. Export markets (including China, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Namibia) remain largely closed, costing the livestock sector an estimated R5.6 billion in annual lost revenue (R3.7 billion from fresh/frozen beef, R1.4 billion from goat/sheep meat, and R502 million from live animals). Many farmers, especially communal and emerging ones, face existential threats, with no formal compensation available, pushing some toward poverty as cattle serve as critical assets for livelihoods, collateral, and cultural purposes.
The cancellation of the cattle and small stock sections at the iconic Bloemskou (Bloemfontein Show, scheduled 23 April to 2 May 2026) exemplifies the ripple effects. Organisers deemed the risk too high amid the uncontrolled spread, protecting breeders and the broader sector but causing major economic fallout for local service providers, participants, and the marketing platform for breeders and associations — a blow likened to Covid-19's impact on events.For consumers, the fallout manifests in rising beef and meat prices.
Supply disruptions, export bans, and reduced slaughter volumes have driven up domestic costs — beef inflation contributed to food price increases (e.g., 4.4% in some months of 2025), with meat prices up 12.2% in the year to November 2025. This exacerbates food insecurity for low-income households already struggling with high staple costs, adding pressure amid a broader malnutrition crisis affecting over 63% of households. Heavy rains in January 2026 across Limpopo and Mpumalanga — with flooding, dam overflows, and inaccessible roads — have worsened matters for livestock farmers by complicating movement, biosecurity, and feed access, though the primary driver remains FMD.
The government’s shift to a 10-year "FMD-free with vaccination" plan (starting mass rollout in February 2026) offers hope, but experts warn of continued volatility into 2026/27, with prices likely staying elevated until production stabilizes and exports recover.In short, FMD has triggered a vicious cycle of lost revenue, higher domestic prices, and sector-wide hardship, underscoring the urgent need for effective vaccination, biosecurity, and trade restoration to protect farmers' livelihoods and keep beef affordable for consumers.
The frustration among South African farmers over the government's handling of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak is palpable, with many echoing your sentiment that bureaucratic delays and incompetence are prolonging the crisis, costing billions in lost revenue, disrupted markets, and higher beef prices for consumers. As long as producers must rely on politicians' promises and slow state-led initiatives—such as the phased 10-year national vaccination plan starting in February 2026—without real empowerment for private action, the issue risks dragging on indefinitely.
Saai and AfriForum have opened a 24-hour psychological helpline (064 870 8312) with 202 trauma volunteers and professional counsellors, as family members are now warning of suicide risks. Experts blame the government's monopoly, capacity shortages, poor communication, and delayed response for the powerless situation. They demand urgent privatization of vaccine production, removal of regulatory barriers, and a national disaster declaration for rapid access to resources (police, army).
Minister Steenhuisen's action plan is seen as too late and vague; vaccines are scarce, outbreaks are often not reported (due to year-long quarantine), and the industry fears bankruptcy for hundreds of farmers. The crisis threatens food security, jobs, and the R80 billion livestock sector, with a call for the private sector to take the lead in stopping the disease. The helpline provides immediate emotional support, but the core solution lies in swift, effective action against the disease.
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