FMD and AGOA: Why the farm worker is the ultimate gatekeeper of South Africa’s R80bn recovery

South Africa is currently walking a high-stakes tightrope. As we enter February 2026, the agricultural sector faces a perfect storm where domestic animal health emergencies and international trade politics have become inextricably linked.

On one side, we have the Department of Agriculture’s ambitious 10-year strategy to combat Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) – an R80 billion battle for the survival of our national herd.

On the other hand, we still face looming uncertainty regarding our eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) post 2026 – despite US President Donald Trump’s recent renewal.

While these two challenges often dominate separate headlines, they are two sides of the same coin. AGOA may be the "ticket" that makes our exports financially viable through duty-free access, but our FMD-free status is the "passport" that allows those goods to cross the border in the first place.

Having the ticket without the passport is useless; we cannot trade if our goods are banned on health grounds. Conversely, regaining our FMD-free status means little if our future as part of AGOA is jeopardised and we face increased tariffs that price us out of the market.

To survive, the sector must win on both fronts simultaneously.

While the "stabilisation" phase of the national FMD plan is now underway with a mass vaccination rollout, there is a critical vulnerability that no amount of imported vaccine can fix: the "credibility gap" on the ground.

For South Africa to convince global trade partners that our biosecurity is robust enough to merit access, we must first prove we can sustain and support the compliance of the people actually managing the livestock on the ground – day in and day out.

The high cost of the credibility gap

The USA remains one of our most vital trade partners, with two-way flows totalling $21.6 billion in 2024.

Economists warn that exclusion from the AGOA programme after 2026 could see tariffs on our agricultural exports jump significantly, damaging the competitiveness of our beef, citrus, and wine industries.

Global trade is built on trust, and biosecurity is a major currency of that trust. To reopen lucrative markets like China, which suspended beef imports in 2025, South Africa must demonstrate more than policy.

As a country we must also prioritise demonstrating operational excellence. However, this is impossible when the farm workforce – the very people who identify sick animals, manage dip tanks, and control livestock movement – is disconnected from the digital systems designed to protect them.

Vaccination is not a "silver bullet". It is a tool. The real work of biosecurity – the daily, repetitive adherence to hygiene and movement protocols – happens in the paddock. It is carried out by thousands of farm workers who are currently operating in a climate of intense worry and uncertainty.

Job security and the misinformation vacuum

Agriculture is a labour-intensive sector, employing approximately 5% of South Africa’s workforce. For these employees, FMD is now a threat to their own survival too.

When an outbreak leads to a farm closure or the culling of a herd, the fallout for low-skilled labourers is catastrophic. We saw this in the ostrich industry during the 2011 bird flu crisis, where thousands of workers lost their jobs as production collapsed.

This climate of fear creates a fertile breeding ground for misinformation. Our experience across high-risk sectors shows that when management fails to reach the workforce with authoritative, empathetic, and clear messaging, the resulting void is filled by the "rumour mill".

During recent global bird flu outbreaks, we saw harmful conspiracy theories flourish, with some employees believing the virus was "fake news" or a "bioweapon" designed to drive up food prices.

When a worker believes a disease is a hoax, or is simply terrified for their job, they are far less likely to adhere to rigorous biosecurity protocols. Biosecurity is, to no small degree, a behavioural challenge.

Digital inclusion as a trade enabler

The national recovery plan relies on an enhanced digital livestock identification and traceability system (LITS) and real-time heat-mapping of outbreaks. But for this data to be accurate, it needs to be fed by the people on the ground. This is where digital divides pose serious and systemic risks.

If our farm workers lack the tools or the digital literacy to report symptoms or verify movement in real-time, our biosecurity data becomes a "lagging indicator" – telling us what happened weeks ago, rather than what is happening now.

From instruction to engagement

Effective crisis management requires transforming the workforce from passive recipients of instructions into active participants in the solution.

This means:

• Two-way feedback loops: Giving employees a digital channel to report suspected symptoms or biosecurity breaches (like broken fences or unauthorised animal movement) the moment they see them.
• Multilingual micro-learning: Delivering bite-sized, vernacular-language training on vaccination protocols and hygiene, ensuring that "lay language" replaces technical jargon.
• Leadership visibility: Using mobile video and audio to provide direct reassurance from leadership, addressing job security concerns and debunking rumours before they escalate into non-compliance.

The human factor of recovery

As the vaccine rollout continues, we must remember that the success of the "stabilisation" phase depends on the millions of daily decisions made by South Africa’s agricultural employees.

If we want to protect our R80 billion livestock industry and restore our global standing, we must start by bridging the digital gap between the boardroom and the fields.

By connecting the disconnected, we turn our most vulnerable asset – the people – into our most resilient line of defence. The road to FMD-free status is long, but it is a road we must all walk together as a combined workforce.

Merel van der Lei, CEO of Wyzetalk.

BUSINESS REPORT