Meat has been found to be a prime vehicle for the dissemination of foodborne pathogens to humans worldwide. Microbial meat contaminants can cause food-borne diseases in humans. The threat to consumers by microbial meat contaminants necessitates the studying of meat microbial loads to prevent potential illnesses in consumers. Studies investigating the meat microbial loads in South Africa are limited. The objective of this study was to compare microbial contamination of different meat types from low-throughput (LTA) and high-throughput abattoirs (HTA) at three stages of the distribution chain from abattoir to retail outlets. Beef, pork, and mutton (n = 216) carcasses were sampled: during the loading process at the abattoirs, when off-loading at the supply points and during marketing. All samples were subjected to total bacterial count (TBC), coliform count (CC), presumptive Escherichia coli (E. coli) (PEC) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) detection. In mutton, TBC dominated at loading, CC was similar across distribution chain stages, PEC was the predominant microbial contaminant at the offloading stage at the HTA, but TBC was affected at loading, CC was similar across distribution chain stages, PEC was affected at loading, and S. aureus was affected at the display stage at the LTAs. In beef, TBC had similar levels at loading; CC and PEC dominated at the display stage for the HTAs. However, TBC was affected at the display stage; CC was similar across stages; PEC was affected at the offloading stage at the LTAs. In pork, higher contamination levels were discovered at the display stage, CC dominated at the loading stage, with PEC detected at offloading at the HTAs but TBC, CC, PEC and S. aureus were similar across stages at the LTAs. TBC, CC and PEC were affected by the storage period and meat supplier to meat shop distance whereas distance affected the TBC, CC and PEC. Meat supplier to meat shop distance negatively correlated with meat distribution chain stage but positively correlated with TBC, CC and PEC such as temperature. Temperature positively correlated with meat distribution chain stage and shop class. Meat distribution chain stage was negatively correlated with storage period, TBC, CC and PEC but positively correlated with shop class. Shop class negatively correlated with storage period, TBC, CC and PEC. Storage period positively correlated with TB, CC and PEC. TBC and meat type positively correlated with CC and PEC. CC positively correlated with PEC but negatively correlated with S. aureus such as PEC. In conclusion, mutton, pork and beef meat are susceptible to microbial contamination at distribution chain stages in abattoirs.

The rapid increase in the global human population, particularly in Low-Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs), causes severe food shortages. Food shortages are complex and can be linked to economic, environmental, social, and political variables. Harnessing village chicken products serves as a cheap commercial chicken substitute to address food shortages. The consumption and sales of protein products from village chickens, such as meat, eggs, and internal organs, ensures food security and poverty alleviation in limited-resource communities. However, village chickens have poor-quality end products due to poor management and animal-rearing resources. Village chicken production challenges include the absence of high-quality feed, biosecurity, recordkeeping, housing, and commercial marketing of its end products. Management being based on cultural gender roles instead of the possession of formal poultry management training further limits village chicken production. To improve village chicken end-product quality, poultry management trainings for rural women are suggested due to studies showing that women mainly manage village chicken production. Furthermore, to create a formal market share of village chickens, sensory evaluations need to be conducted using mainstream poultry consumers. This review examined the potential contribution of village chickens in achieving Sustainable Development Goals—one, No Poverty and two, Zero Hunger—to benefit vulnerable groups in resource-poor communities.

The agricultural sector receives substantial support from livestock, which greatly contributes to the well-being of rural communities. Livestock offers animal-derived products, such as meat and milk, which serve as abundant protein sources for human consumption. While the majority of South Africa’s agricultural land is suitable for livestock farming within the smallholder sector, these farmers often face a variety of challenges. Among these challenges, there is insufficient access to superior forage resources, resulting in the limited availability of high-quality feed. Traditional nutrient sources for ruminants, such as soybean meal, grain, sunflower meal, and fish meal, are employed as supplementary feeds to provide exceptional nutrition and improve animal performance. Nonetheless, they present logistical, economic, and environmental challenges. To circumvent these challenges, smallholder producers have turned to leguminous trees, including Vachellia species and other locally available feed resources. They are utilized as feasible and cost-effective alternatives to supplement livestock, especially during periods of extended drought. However, these locally available feed resources exhibit inherent limitations, including thorn presence, high fiber content, low digestibility, and the presence of anti-nutritional and toxic factors. Cool season forage crops such as fodder radish present promising alternatives as autumn and winter forages for these farmers. Despite being widely used globally as a supplement for livestock during winter, fodder radish remains relatively underutilized, particularly among smallholder farmers. There is a scarcity of comprehensive information regarding its chemical composition, nutrient utilization, and remarkable potential to revolutionize livestock production, especially within the smallholder sector. Most of the available literature demonstrates the positive effects of fodder radish on soil structure, soil carbon and nitrogen levels, weed suppression, and other benefits. This paper systematically reviews the current state of knowledge on the nutritive value, opportunities, and challenges associated with the utilization of this crop in the cooler eastern regions.

This study was conducted on New Zealand White male and female rabbits over a period of 133 days to ascertain their potential growth rates, body composition for major body parts, and chemical makeup. A total of 220 New Zealand White rabbits, evenly distributed between males and females, were used for this study. One hundred rabbits for potential growth were weighed from day 14 to day 140, while twelve rabbits, six males and six females, were randomly selected at days 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 56, 70, 84, 112, and 140 for carcass analysis. Although the rate of maturation was faster in females than in males, the Gompertz equation fitted separately to the growth data for males and females indicated that the body weights were similar throughout the trial (0.0243 vs. 0.0239), but males had a higher mature weight (315 g) than the females (309 g). Mature body protein weights averaged 1497 g in males and 843 g in females, and mature body lipid contents averaged 252 and 227 g, respectively. The rate of maturation per day of pelt-free body protein of males and females was 0.0103 and 0.0172, while that of body lipids was 0.0410 and 0.0471, respectively. Separate equations were required for males and females to describe the allometric relationship between protein and lipids in the pelt-free body. The rate of maturation of pelts in females was higher than in males (0.0249 vs. 0.0214/d), and the mature weight was lower (456 vs. 523 g, respectively).

Communal farming is mainly practised in most rural areas of South Africa, and agricultural production plays a significant part in rural livelihoods. Lack of access to adequate resources has led to high vulnerability. Farmers' understanding, awareness, and experience of extension services are important. Extension services are vital in supporting farmers in acquiring information, gaining knowledge and skills, and engaging in agricultural production to solve farming-related problems. Therefore, the paper seeks to determine farmers' perceptions of extension services accessed. The study used a cross-sectional research design to collect data using a 5-Likert scale questionnaire. A snowball sampling method was used to select 115 communal farmers from Ntsimbini village in Port St Johns Local Municipality. Descriptive statistics and principal component analysis were used to analyse the collected data. The study's findings revealed that production challenges associated with limited access to support services affect crop and livestock production. Findings on farmers' perceptions revealed poor access to production inputs and infrastructural support. Therefore, extension services accessibility affects production inputs and infrastructural support. The study recommends that access and use of extension support services be improved through communication strategies conducive to all stakeholders involved in communal farming, as this will help improve access to support services for farmers.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the distribution chain, distance between the abattoir and meat retailer, storage duration of meat at the meat retailer and meat retailer class on the physico-chemical quality of red meat. Beef (n = 150), pork (n = 150) and mutton (n = 150) samples were collected during the loading process of carcasses into refrigerated trucks, at the offloading point and during marketing to measure the effect of the distance between the abattoir and meat retailer, storage duration of meat at the meat retailer and meat retailer class (butcher, middle and high class) on the meat quality attributes. Meat quality attributes measured were; lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), pH_u, cooking loss (CL%), Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF) and meat temperature (TM). The distribution stage had an effect (p < 0.05) on some of the meat quality attributes, specifically the a* values for all meat types during loading (18.5 ± 0.93), off-loading (15.8 ± 0.93) and display (20.2 ± 0.94) points. Abattoir to meat retailer distance had a significant effect on L*, a*, hue angle and chroma values (p < 0.05). Storage duration at the retailer point significantly affected L* and a* values of meat (p < 0.05). Meat retailer class affected WBSF and meat yellowness (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the distribution chain, distance between the abattoir and meat retailer, storage duration of meat at the meat retailer and meat retailer class all affect the physico-chemical quality of red meat.