South Africa's foot-and-mouth bonus

Europe's problems could be to the advantage of South Africa

By the BBC Africa correspondent Allan Little

South African meat producers are poised to benefit from Europe's foot-and-mouth crisis - despite themselves losing their "disease free status" only last year.

Africa, long seen as the hungry continent, may end up feeding plentiful Europe

South Africa's meat exports to the Middle East - a region of the world normally heavily dependent on beef imported from the European Union - have risen six-fold since the European outbreak began.

The European Union itself remains a difficult market for South African producers to break into.

Tariffs on African beef imports remain prohibitive. And even if these were to be temporarily relaxed, South Africa has only two EU-approved abattoirs.

Ostrich meat

The country's ostrich farmers are also benefiting, as European confidence in red meat products plummets after successive health scares.

Ostrich meat has the colour and consistency of beef but provides a healthy red-meat alternative, being low in fat and cholesterol. The price of ostrich carcasses has risen by 25% in recent months.

South Africa itself suffered an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease only last year.

Vaccinated

The government acted swiftly to contain it, choosing to inoculate herds thought to be at risk.

As a result South Africa lost its disease free status, and cattle from the affected areas - Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Province - can no longer be exported.

Cattle exports, however, continue from other parts of the country.

South African officials take private delight in the prospect that in the long term Southern Africa's prodigious beef industry might in the end turn upside-down long standing trade patterns.

Africa, long seen as the hungry continent, may end up feeding plentiful Europe.