Despite government efforts, the bread crisis is escalating. Mona El-Fiqi stands in line The government has started applying new measures to regulate the sale of subsidised bread, including raising flour quotas in high population governorates, separating the processes of bread production and distribution, and enforcing strict penalties on the sale of subsidised flour on the black market. But bread queues continue to grow longer and people still cannot readily find this staple food. For many years, different types of bread at various prices have been available on the market. One could buy a loaf of subsidised baladi (traditional) bread at PT5, while a bigger and better loaf of baladi was sold at PT10-25. Moreover, thin baguette-like feeno bread -- a favourite for school sandwiches -- was also affordable at PT10 a loaf. Today, people complain that it has become a mission impossible to buy their needs of bread. Long queues in front of bakeries, particularly those selling subsidised bread, have become commonplace. "I have to stand in line for hours to buy 10 loaves of subsidised baladi bread," complained housewife Amany Mohamed. "It is unfair that we have to endure this hardship to get our needs of bread, the basic food in my family's three meals." To avoid the long wait, Mohamed attempted to buy unsubsidised bread at PT25 a loaf, but the owner of the bakery refused to sell the bread to individuals because his main clients are restaurants. Sayed Ali, a civil servant and father of three, thought that if he went to the bakery before daybreak he will be served immediately. "After dawn prayers, I was surprised to find 10 people already queuing up in front of me," recounted Ali. When all his schemes and ploys failed, he asked one of his relatives to buy bread for him to avoid being late for work while waiting in line every day. In response to continued complaints and the gravity of the scarcity of bread, the cabinet met on 6 March to discuss the problem and reconsider the quota of every governorate. During the meeting, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif urged that the issue of bread production and distribution should be decentralised. Hence, governors are now responsible for distributing the flour quota for their governorate and the establishment of new bakeries according to local needs. While Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Moselhi decided to raise the quota of the subsidised flour by 18,700 tonnes in seven high population governorates, the cabinet decided to widely apply separating the processes of bread production and distribution. Bakeries no longer sell bread, but are required to deliver their quota of loaves made with subsidised flour to a committee from the Ministry of Social Solidarity. The bread is then delivered to outlets affiliated to a company responsible for selling it. The ministry announced that bread production and distribution were separated in 6 October City and the districts of Helwan and Zeitoun three weeks ago. According to Yehia Mahmoud, Moselhi's press counsellor, this strategy will be applied in 18,000 bakeries across the country to reduce bread queues and control illegal trading in subsidised flour provided to bakeries. Mahmoud explained that the bread crisis is a result of the rising price of wheat on the international market, which in turn raises the prices of all flour products such as baladi bread, feeno bread and pasta. "People prefer buying bread since it's cheaper than pasta," he continued, saying that the price of 20 loaves of subsidised bread is less than the price of 250 grammes of pasta. Moreover, the huge difference between the price of subsidised flour and its market price tempts some bakery owners to sell their quota on the black market for huge profit. The price of a 50kg sack of subsidised flour is LE8, while its market price is LE100. This leads to shortages of subsidised bread in their districts, stated Mahmoud. He admitted, however, that there are discrepancies in the number of bakeries in various districts. "There could be 22 in one district and one or two bakeries in another," he said, "which leads to shortages in some places and an opportunity to sell subsidised flour at market prices in other districts." Therefore, the ministry is reconsidering the distribution of bakeries and flour quotas to ensure fairer representation across the map. According to a contract signed between the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the Division of Bakery Owners (DBO) at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce in September 2006, an owner who does not follow regulations or sells his quota on the market will pay a fine between LE7,500 to LE100,000. On the other hand, an owner who does not violate regulations for six months will be rewarded with LE5 per sack of flour he produces. More than LE2 million have been paid in rewards, according to Mahmoud, while fines have amounted to LE132 million -- of which LE54 million remain to be collected. DBO Chairman Farag Wahba agreed that the increase in wheat prices worldwide and the high cost of bread alternatives such as rice and pasta, have led to crowding in front of bakeries selling subsidised bread. Meanwhile, unsubsidised baladi bread is sold at PT30-60 a loaf which is unaffordable for the majority of the people, stated Wahba. But he also feels that subsidised bread is sometimes wasted, for example in the countryside when it is fed to the fowl and farm animals due to its cheap price. While Wahba believes that the measures taken by the government to separate distribution from production will be successful, other experts also praised the government's move to decentralise the bread problem.
