South Africa to produce more zebras to boost jobs and conservation June 23, 2024

South Africa currently produces around 60,000 tons of game meat a year (Photo: MARCO LONGARI)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

South Africa to produce more zebras to boost jobs and conservation

Impala, kudu, and wildebeest carcasses hang from a slaughterhouse rail, ready to be turned into steaks, sausages, and burgers of the kind South Africa wants to see more of on the dinner table.

The abattoir in Bela Bela, north of Johannesburg, is one of the few in the country dedicated to game meat.

Officials say the untapped sector could create jobs and help preserve wildlife, as well as pleasing the palates of climate- and health-conscious meat eaters.

"We want to add a dimension to your dinner plate by offering you organic game meat from the wild," Khorommbi Matibe, head of biodiversity economics at the environment ministry, told AFP.

South Africa, one of the main destinations for wildlife tourism, produces around 60,000 tons of game meat a year - equivalent in weight to approximately 60,000 giraffes.

But only a fraction ends up in butchers and supermarkets. Ninety percent is hunted and consumed informally, according to the government.

Even less is exported.

In 2019, just over 3,000 tons of ostrich, crocodile, and zebra were shipped to the European Union, China, and the United Arab Emirates, according to the government.

The authorities would like to serve much more.

In March, they said they wanted to grow the sector from 4.6 billion rand ($250 million) in 2020 to 27.6 billion rand by 2036, adopting a strategy published at the end of last year.

- Less methane - Are you unemployed?

With unemployment at 32.9% in the country, this could create jobs in rural and economically deprived areas.

Matibe says there are good reasons to barbecue more springboks.

Game animals release less methane - a greenhouse gas - than cattle, whose belching is one of the main sources of global warming emissions from agriculture.

When foraging in the wild, their meat is, by definition, free and lean.

A study carried out in 2023 by researchers at Stellenbosch University found that zebra meat, in particular, is highly nutritious and has very little fat.

The government argues that eating more of this meat could also help conservation efforts.

South Africa has long adopted a market-oriented approach to conservation, based on the belief that farmers have more incentive to care for wildlife if they can profit from it.

Critics say the model exploits and commodifies animals. But it has proved largely successful.

The country's wildlife population has grown from around 500,000 in the 1960s to more than 20 million today. Around 80% are in private game reserves that attract tourists and hunters.

According to the government, part of the meat could come from the hundreds of herbivores that are slaughtered every year to keep the numbers within sustainable levels.

And the government wants to convert one million hectares of communal land to game meat production, which could increase black ownership in a sector where, 30 years after the end of apartheid, more than 94% of operators are white men, Matibe said.

Because it requires little equipment, game meat has "really low" input costs - an advantage for newcomers, added Darren Horner, owner of producer Aloes Meat.

- Problems with meat

However, in a barbecue-crazy country known locally as Braai, not much ends up on the grill these days.

This is partly due to the belief that game meat is less tender than beef and has an unusual flavor, according to the strategy, which foresees marketing campaigns to increase consumption.

"Our grandmothers used to stuff the meat with bacon and leave it in red wine for three days to get the wild flavor out. For me, it just needs a little olive oil and salt," said Charl de Villiers, director of Game SA, an industry group.

There are other obstacles.

The authorities plan to draw up quality standards so that all meat can be traced back to its source and be trusted by supermarkets and restaurants.

But these standards cannot be too strict or they will risk scaring off informal producers, said Horner.

Meanwhile, exports of cloven-hoofed animals to Europe have been banned for years as South Africa struggles to contain outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease that farmers blame on inadequate border controls.

State laboratories for testing meat are small and outdated, which further limits export potential, say producers.

De Villiers currently has to send his ostrich meat to Great Britain for testing, which increases costs.

- Big disappointment

Stephen Nel, owner of the Camo Meat slaughterhouse in Bela Bela, said he applied for an export license in 2017 but has since given up.

"It was a very big disappointment for me. The government has failed us," said Nel, wearing khaki shorts and a matching shirt inside his refrigerated facility.

Around 4,000 animals a year are skinned, weighed, boned, processed, and packaged on-site.

Almost all of them are brought in by hunters interested in eating some of their prey.

Expanding production to supply supermarkets would require investments, but these are hard to come by amid skepticism about the sector's potential, he said.

The government has been talking about growth for more than a decade, but "nothing is established", said Nel.

However, Matibe is confident that the strategy will soon start bringing results and will remain on track even after the May elections, which forced the ruling African National Congress to form a coalition government.

"Over the next three years, we should see an increase in this product coming onto the market," he said.

By Umberto BACCHI

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