Rising production costs linked to the high cost of maize and the weak rand are being blamed for the spiralling food price costs, reports IAfrica.com.

The rising costs will hit local consumers hard as the meat is the only source of affordable protein. The poultry industry also creates tens of thousands of jobs in South Africa and the rising costs of poultry production could lead to job cuts in the industry.

"Incomes are fairly flat, job opportunities are not really being created, those that are seem to be in the civil service... I think there’s a reasonable risk that it will become unaffordable," SA Poultry Association's Kevin Lovell was quoted as saying in an eNCA report.

"Buy local and buy a local job. Really if you kind of focus on that foreign is better or may be cheaper... but an unemployed South Africa is not good for anybody," he said.

The industry has recently been embroiled in an import tariff flap with local producers accusing international producers of dumping their goods in SA.

The government though has declared the industry as being in distress.