The South African Pork Producers' Organisation (SAPPO) used its AGM and Expo in Pretoria on 2 and 3 September — themed 'Stewardship in Action' — to take stock of what it called the most demanding period for animal health in the history of the country's pork industry. Since November 2025 it has helped manage the largest African swine fever outbreak ever recorded in South Africa, and foot-and-mouth disease was found in a commercial piggery for the first time, with 17 FMD incidents in commercial units since.

The outbreaks exposed the cost of control measures not adapted to commercial pig production; sustained engagement with government led to revised measures under Section 9 of the Animal Diseases Act, published in July 2026, meant to cut the welfare and commercial impact of FMD in piggeries. 'We chose not to let a crisis go to waste,' said SAPPO chief executive Dr Marlene Louw. 'The industry that came out of this year is more resilient than the one that went in.'

About 200,000 FMD vaccine doses were allocated, distributed and recorded on SAPPO's World of Pork digital platform — every dose had to be accounted for because vaccines were issued under a research permit — with a new recording module extended to cattle vaccinations and integration with the Red Meat Industry Services traceability platform under way. Movement logging peaked at about 60% late in 2025; the next step is a common identity for every production site through GS1 global location numbers, whose registration fee and first-year cost SAPPO is sponsoring, so that affected premises and the movement of animals, feed and equipment can be traced quickly in an outbreak.

Pork 360, the farm-to-fork assurance scheme, audited 154 units in 2025, 61% of the registered commercial sow herd; a Social Sows programme, due in the fourth quarter of 2026, will record producers' pledges and milestones in moving away from gestation crates. Disease uncertainty and price movements drove a rapid rise in pork imports from early 2026, and expo data showed only 9% of households buy whole fresh pork while 67% buy polony — hence a consumer campaign linking pork to the braai rather than price promotions.

SAPPO's mentorship programme completed 619 farm visits and 359 biosecurity assessments among small-scale producers in 2025, with pass rates up seven points; research has been commissioned to refine controls, validate diagnostics, explore reinstating compartment status after vaccination and evaluate vaccination in pigs, on the assumption that FMD risk will not disappear quickly.

Source: Farmers Weekly South Africa