Abstract
The 2025 National Listening Study found that South Africa’s red meat industry is active, resilient, and highly interconnected, but fragmented and insufficiently coordinated. While stakeholders broadly agree on key priorities such as animal health, traceability, biosecurity, and market access, implementation remains inconsistent due to weak system-wide alignment, fragmented communication, and uneven decision-making.
Communication is frequent, primarily through WhatsApp and email, but often lacks structure and shared understanding. Trust is strongest in local relationships and varies across institutions, limiting confidence in industry-wide initiatives. Coordination across the value chain relies heavily on informal networks rather than formal systems, resulting in duplicated efforts and inconsistent execution.
Traceability is widely recognized as essential, with most stakeholders already implementing some practices, but adoption remains uneven due to resource constraints, operational complexity, and limited understanding. Awareness of RMIS is moderate, while understanding of the Red Meat Industry Strategy remains low, particularly at operational levels. Support for the statutory levy is closely linked to visible outcomes and demonstrated value.
Stakeholders across producers, emerging farmers, feedlots, auction houses, abattoirs, veterinarians, and other industry groups consistently highlighted the need for stronger coordination, clearer communication, improved trust, practical support, and greater inclusion in decision-making. Common concerns include disease control, market access, infrastructure limitations, and the sustainability of current systems.
The study concludes that the industry’s primary challenge is not a lack of activity, but a lack of alignment. Future success will depend on deliberate system design, structured collaboration, scalable traceability and biosecurity solutions, and translating strategy into practical action. RMIS is positioned to play a central role in enabling system-wide coordination and transforming fragmented efforts into a cohesive, industry-wide approach.