Implications of FMD on livestock value chain activities within municipalities in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa

Livestock contributes to the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. The occurrence of foot and mouth disease (FMD) affects the livestock industry at large. The focus on impact of FMD on producers has neglected other players within the value chain. Value chains are intertwined; when one stakeholder experiences shock, a ripple effect is observed impacting other stakeholders. The study seeks to determine the impact of FMD on livestock activities in selected municipalities of South Africa. The study used data collected from 73 local municipalities in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. Descriptive statistics was used to distinguish the level of value chain performance between three FMD categories. The hierarchical cluster analysis generated 4 clusters which were regrouped into 3 clusters. They include the low livestock value chain activity cluster, high livestock retention cluster and the high livestock value chain activity cluster. These were compared with the existing FMD free, protected, and red zone clusters. The results of indicated that the regrouped clusters consist of a combination of different clusters i.e., FMD free, red, and protected municipality as opposed to the existing clusters which isolate clusters by FMD classification or category. Moreover, livestock value chain activity differs amongst municipalities within one cluster. This finding debunked the assumption that FMD red areas have the lowest performance on livestock activities. Multivariate analysis results confirmed that the performance of the livestock value chain variables is not affected by the category of FMD zone in which a municipality is situated. This confirms that bottlenecks differ in local economic development. The study recommends the creation of a multi-stakeholder framework to guide stakeholders throughout the value chain as well as municipality context specific strategies to improve value chain activity be prioritized.