African Swine Fever Cuts Dominican Pork Output by More Than 70%

Domestic pork production in the Dominican Republic has contracted by more than 70% as a result of African swine fever, while more than 80% of the pork and pork derivatives consumed in the country is imported, according to Miguel Angel Olivo Rodriguez, president of the Dominican Federation of Pig Farmers (Fedoporc).

Olivo Rodriguez set out the assessment in an interview on Palpitar Economico, a segment of the programme Punto de Vista broadcast by Color Vision, channel 9, as reported by La Lupa del Sur. He described the impact of the disease on the national pig sector and presented proposals aimed at rebuilding output on a gradual basis.

From regional leader to import dependence

The Dominican pig industry had been through a period of significant growth before the outbreak. By 2017 the country was producing more pork than the five Central American countries combined, Olivo Rodriguez said. At that point the Dominican Republic held an average of 170,000 breeding sows, a larger herd than the five Central American countries together. South America as a whole accounted for around 300,000 breeding females.

That balance changed with the arrival of African swine fever. According to the Fedoporc president, the disease began to affect the country in May 2019 and early 2020, triggering the reduction of more than 70% in national production.

Imports cover the gap

The fall in domestic output has driven a considerable increase in imports to keep the market supplied. Olivo Rodriguez said that during last year around 80% of the pork and derivatives consumed in the country came from abroad.

Low production has also created differences between regions. In areas with little pig farming activity, consumption tends to be lower, a gap compounded by the cost of transporting product from the main producing zones to other parts of the country.

The situation arrives less than three months before December, the period in which demand for pork traditionally rises sharply, particularly for the preparation of the traditional lechon.

Proposed recovery model

Olivo Rodriguez proposed developing production in zones where circulation of the virus is lower, through farms operating at high levels of biosecurity. The plan involves investment in sanitarily protected facilities to raise animals under controlled conditions and reduce the risk of new outbreaks.

The objective would be to produce piglets with high genetic value that could then be bought by domestic producers for the fattening stage. A piglet of about 70 days, under adequate genetics and management, can reach between 30 and 32 kilograms, he said. Those animals could be sold to producers at prices that generate returns both for the specialised farms producing them and for the operators fattening them.

The model would also incorporate small pig farmers, many of whom operate in rural communities. The initiative envisages grouping these producers and building them simple, low-cost sheds that still meet basic biosecurity conditions, allowing them to work on an associative basis and reduce the economic and sanitary risks they face when disease hits their animals. Animals would be fattened under controlled conditions and moved to slaughterhouses for processing once they reach the appropriate weight.

The proposal further includes participation by meat processing companies. Olivo Rodriguez suggested these firms could help finance components of production, including the purchase of animals and their feed, and subsequently share in the resulting returns. That arrangement would remove the need for small producers to carry all the economic risk individually and would make it easier to apply sanitary protocols when a disease event occurs. Once animals are removed, facilities could be cleaned and disinfected before production restarts, in line with the relevant protocols.

Rebuilding the chain

For Olivo Rodriguez, the recovery of Dominican pig farming has to rest on biosecurity, genetics, productive efficiency and the organisation of producers. The issue, he argued, is not simply raising the number of pigs but creating a system capable of producing efficiently and reducing the chances of African swine fever spreading further. He considers that a model of this type would also make the disease control and eradication programme more effective.

The sector now faces the task of recovering the productive capacity it held before the expansion of African swine fever. Olivo Rodriguez maintained that the recovery must allow both large producers and small pig farmers to participate in the production chain through mechanisms that secure profitability and lower sanitary and economic risk. Strengthening domestic output, he said, would gradually reduce dependence on imports and increase the availability of locally produced pork.