In Egypt, life is the stuff of bread
Gleeful: Cairo streets rejoice in the Maulud these days, but bread shortages are sparking rage and deepening the frustration among Egypt's poor. Picture: DPA
Saturday, March 22, 2008
OUTSIDE a bakery in a poor neighbourhood in Cairo, crowds of people are shouting and pushing each other with hands and elbows. Children jostle in the middle to reach the counter. They are all scrambling to buy their daily need of state-subsidised bread. This has been a common scene across the country as bread shortages are sparking rage and deepening the frustration among Egypt's poor.
"I don't know what to do. I have been standing here in front of the bakery since seven in the morning to buy 10 loaves of bread for my children," Abeer Attiya said, speaking in front of the bakery in Bulaq al-Dakror district.
"I still have not managed to buy a single loaf," said Attiya, a mother of three.
Shortages of bread, a life staple for millions of Egyptians, are caused by corruption and soaring prices of wheat in international markets.
The recent three-fold increase in the international price of wheat has triggered a jump in the price of unsubsidised bread in Egypt.
The increase has created a big demand for cheap bread, which receives government subsidies to help Egypt's low-income masses. But millions of Egyptians, including members of the middle-classes, are now fighting over the affordable subsidized bread, which is 10 times cheaper than the unsubsidised bread.
For 20 years, the price of one loaf of subsidised bread has been fixed at only five piastres (less than 1 cen). The price of unsubsidised bread, however, has steadily risen, reflecting price movement in international markets.
The price of a loaf of unsubsidised bread stands now at 50 piastres ($0.70).
The bread shortage is exacerbated by corruption. Workers at bakeries of subsidised bread have been selling state-subsidised flour in the black market, causing a sharp drop in the production of cheap bread.
Hazem Hosny, an economist, said that bread shortages are caused mainly by corruption and mismanagement in the state bodies in charge of producing and distributing bread.
Bread, commonly known in Egyptian Arabic as Aish, which means "life", is indeed a life staple in the country of 80 million people. The most popular and cheapest type of bread is the dark, doughy round-shaped bread, known as Baladi ("local"). DPA
"I don't know what to do. I have been standing here in front of the bakery since seven in the morning to buy 10 loaves of bread for my children," Abeer Attiya said, speaking in front of the bakery in Bulaq al-Dakror district.
"I still have not managed to buy a single loaf," said Attiya, a mother of three.
Shortages of bread, a life staple for millions of Egyptians, are caused by corruption and soaring prices of wheat in international markets.
The recent three-fold increase in the international price of wheat has triggered a jump in the price of unsubsidised bread in Egypt.
The increase has created a big demand for cheap bread, which receives government subsidies to help Egypt's low-income masses. But millions of Egyptians, including members of the middle-classes, are now fighting over the affordable subsidized bread, which is 10 times cheaper than the unsubsidised bread.
For 20 years, the price of one loaf of subsidised bread has been fixed at only five piastres (less than 1 cen). The price of unsubsidised bread, however, has steadily risen, reflecting price movement in international markets.
The price of a loaf of unsubsidised bread stands now at 50 piastres ($0.70).
The bread shortage is exacerbated by corruption. Workers at bakeries of subsidised bread have been selling state-subsidised flour in the black market, causing a sharp drop in the production of cheap bread.
Hazem Hosny, an economist, said that bread shortages are caused mainly by corruption and mismanagement in the state bodies in charge of producing and distributing bread.
Bread, commonly known in Egyptian Arabic as Aish, which means "life", is indeed a life staple in the country of 80 million people. The most popular and cheapest type of bread is the dark, doughy round-shaped bread, known as Baladi ("local"). DPA
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