South Africa's poultry industry is in crisis as companies close and scale down operations due to sustainability challenges caused by competition from cheap imports from abroad. The country's largest poultry producer, Rainbow Chicken, renamed RCL Foods, is reportedly scheduled to retrench 1350 workers from the end of this month, while Country Bird, the country’s third biggest chicken producer behind Astral Foods, is reportedly planning to retrench 1 500 workers. Reports also indicated that a total of 50 000 food and farm jobs could be lost following the influx of cheap chicken imports from mainly the European Union (EU) countries, the United States and Brazil. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has called upon the South African government to act urgently to save the poultry industry from collapse as well as ensure jobs are not lost.