Poultry
6. Small holder farm
On the opposite end of Africa’s largest beef farm or dry port, are some of the smallest scale farms, which we can explore through the cultivation of cash crops, and through subsistence farming. As the name suggests, the former refers to crops grown for the express purposes of being sold for profit, while the latter refers to farming to meet the needs of the farmer, their family, or their community.
Alongside meat consumption in general, poultry consumption is only expected to rise in South Africa, as the population purchasing power and national quality of life gradually improve over time. At the same time, however, climate change threatens to decrease productivity of current large-scale chicken farm models through decreased feed availability from decreased maize production - a supply chain reaction. Smallholder farms, even at the household scale, together with improved animal husbandry techniques, may help alleviate demand pressures.