Photo: By Octavia Avesca Spandiel
The panel discussion was hosted by the National Wool Growers’ Association as part of its ‘Boerepraatjies’ series, and focused on the future of traceability in agriculture.
The session explored how each sector is implementing systems to meet rising global demands for transparency, animal welfare and food safety in export markets.
Lessons from the ostrich industry
Piet Kleyn, CEO of the South African Ostrich Business Chamber (SAOBC), opened the session by sharing how the ostrich industry became a global leader in traceability and disease control.
“We’re fortunate to have an integrated structure, with processors and producers housed in the same organisation. This gives us the ability to coordinate closely on traceability, animal welfare and biosecurity,” he said.
He mentioned that trust between trading partners is non-negotiable: “If you don’t have the trust of your trading partner, you’re finished. Transparency is key – if they even suspect you’re withholding information, the deal is off.”
Kleyn added that South Africa’s ostrich industry has pioneered traceability, starting with compulsory farm registration and the use of tamper-proof, non-reusable tags.
“Our traceability system begins at farm level and follows the bird through vaccination, tagging, abattoir processing and beyond. Each tag is linked to a certificate issued on vaccination day, and all data is captured in a national database.”
The industry also values public-private partnerships. “Without collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and alignment with national regulations, we wouldn’t be able to export,” he added.
Cape Wools pushes digitisation and blockchain
Turning to wool, Deon Saayman, CEO of Cape Wools SA, shared how the wool industry has built its own system to meet growing international traceability demands, particularly from China.
“After China banned our exports in 2019 due to foot-and-mouth concerns, we realised we needed full traceability back to the farm. We showed them that every bale has a producer number. We could identify where it came from and what bin it was packed into. That transparency got our export status reinstated,” he said.
Cape Wools went further by digitising the export process. “Once a buyer uploads the container movement instructions, we can trace exactly which wool lots are in which container, heading to which buyer in which country,” Saayman said.
He mentioned, to stay competitive with Australia, which also exports the bulk of its wool to China, the South African industry adopted similar coding and tagging systems.
“We’re also building a blockchain system, like a puzzle where each stakeholder adds their piece. No one can see the other’s data, but when all pieces come together, the full traceable picture emerges. This gives brands and consumers confidence that the garment they’re buying was produced sustainably and ethically,” Saayman said.
RMIS: building trust through measurable traceability
Dewald Olivier, CEO of Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS), addressed the complexities of applying traceability systems in South Africa’s red meat sector, a vast, diverse and often informal industry, and why the effort is now unavoidable.
“Traceability is not just about compliance anymore, it’s the foundation of market access and trust. In today’s trading environment, if you can’t prove where your product comes from and how it was handled, you’re not going to trade,” he said.
Olivier explained that the RMIS approach focuses on creating an enabling environment for traceability that is practical, inclusive and aligned with both international standards and the needs of commercial producers.
“We’re working to ensure the system reflects real conditions on the ground. It must serve both the export-focused commercial farmer and provide a future pathway for emerging producers.”
A race against time
In the red meat industry, the journey toward traceability has been slower and according to Brent McNamara, CEO of Agri Eastern Cape, it’s reached a tipping point.
“If we don’t get serious about traceability, we’ll end up eating our own animals. No one else will want them. Disease outbreaks and lack of transparency are threatening our export future,” he said.
He added, unlike citrus or ostrich industries, red meat faces the added complexity of informal trade and livestock exchanges before animals even reach the abattoir.
“In our industry, people speculate on animals. They buy, sell and move them around before they even reach the market. This makes disease control and traceability incredibly difficult.”
McNamara predicted a two-tier market emerging in South Africa, a formal system for compliant commercial producers who can access export markets, and an informal system for subsistence-level farmers.
“We’ll never get every animal on a traceability system. But we need to create a voluntary platform for those who want access to higher-value markets,” he said.
McNamara said that industry bodies developed the Animal Information Movement System, which is free, web-based and designed to help farmers meet minimum traceability requirements.
“There’s no excuse anymore. Small stock can be tagged for R7, and large stock for around R17. We’ve built the tools, now producers need to use them.”
Despite operating in vastly different value chains, the panellists agreed on the building blocks for successful traceability: stakeholder trust, public-private partnerships, transparency and adoption of technology.
