The Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS) has recently launched its Field to Future process, a practical framework for project prioritisation that aims to align research, development, and implementation efforts with the South African red meat sector’s 2030 growth ambitions.
In a country where the livestock industry plays a critical role and contributes to the economy, the project aims to bring everyone around the table to work on solutions to challenges with a more proactive attitude.
Stakeholders from across the red meat value chain joined a recent webinar for an introduction to the new, industry-led innovation process designed to shape a resilient and globally competitive future for South Africa’s red meat industry.
Driving 2030 strategy
Chief executive officer of RMIS, Dewald Olivier, said their goal is to shift from legacy silo approaches to a truly unified, responsive system. He added that it is important that the industry speaks in one voice, and in that way, growth and development will be a reality
“This process enables stakeholders to co-create practical, high-impact projects with clear alignment to the Red Meat Industry Strategy 2030,” Olivier said.
Related stories
- Debunking myths: The nutritional power of red meat
- Red meat industry battles stock theft, disease, and high costs
RMIS said as part of this initiative, they will be activating eight thematic focus area groups starting May 2025. These groups will drive the bottom-up identification of key industry challenges and solutions, acting as the first filter in the research and development funnel.
“Participants include producers, veterinarians, researchers, processors, and market experts, all uniting to define priorities across areas such as animal health, meat safety, inclusive growth, market access, and sustainability.
“Following the webinar, attendees were invited to share their perspectives on the Field to Future framework, express interest in joining specific focus area groups, and nominate facilitators to guide each group through the next phases of the process,” RMIS stated.
Creating a resilient, inclusive red meat industry
The Field to Future structure is designed to evolve from national meetings in 2025 to regional clusters by 2027, ensuring inclusive representation and agile, evidence-based project development.
“Ultimately, prioritised topics will feed into RMIS’s innovation unit and be packaged into funded projects for industry-wide benefit. All stakeholders are encouraged to contribute to this industry-wide R&D initiative to ensure the framework’s success and advancing a resilient, competitive red meat industry,” RMIS said.
Steven Sikwane, a livestock farmer from Thabazimbi, said the industry is forever hit by one disaster after another and it is important to stand together.
“It will be great if we really speak with one voice from grassroots level to the upper structures. To safeguard our livelihoods, we ought to liberate ourselves by tackling our issues as a unit. Biosecurity, stock theft, innovation and job creation will not only happen; it needs an action-oriented approach for such to be realised,” he said.
READ NEXT: No ban, no drama: Sihlobo clears the air on Tanzanian bananas
Sign up for Mzansi Today: Your daily take on the news and happenings from the agriculture value chain
