Consumers groan under the weight of unprecedented food price hikes, but the government sees only a rosy picture, Mona El-Fiqi reports During the past few weeks, basic food commodities, including meat, poultry, vegetables, fruits, eggs, dairy products, cooking oil, butter, sugar and rice, witnessed a hike in prices in the local market. Beef is sold at LE60-90 per kilo while poultry reached the unprecedented price of LE20 per kilo. Sugar is sold at LE5 per kilo while one litre of carton milk is LE6.75 and local roumy cheese is sold at LE40 per kilo. The rise in prices included imported butter, which went from LE25 to LE34 per kilo while one litre of corn oil reached LE13.57. High quality rice is sold at LE5.25 while watermelon is LE3 per kilo and tomatoes are LE2 per kilo. When asked how her household budget is faring after the hike in prices, Shadia Mohamed, a housewife and a mother of three, said: "We are dying slowly because our income cannot fulfil our needs." Mohamed explained that her eldest son is a university student and needs money for books, transportation fees and clothes, "but my husband's pension cannot meet all these needs in addition to high food prices, so we stopped eating meat a few months ago and chicken also was added to the forbidden list. In fact, we can only afford to buy fish at LE10 per kilo once or twice a week," Mohamed said. She added that her children sometimes refuse to eat the cheap food she cooks. Ahmed Helal, owner of a supermarket in Nasr City, said that the increase in food prices has led to a reduction in demand. "Our sales have dropped because families cannot cope with the continuous increase in prices," Helal said. A recently issued report by the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, the increase in food prices during the past three years is between 50 to 100 per cent, which is considered high. The impact of this rise in the prices of food commodities was reflected in Egypt's annual headline inflation rate, which reached 10.2 per cent in June led by a 16.9 per cent increase in food and beverages prices, as indicated the statistics released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics. Experts say that the increase of prices in local markets is unjustified as food prices in international markets are low following the global financial crisis. Nader Noureddin, professor of agriculture at Cairo University, blamed the government for "empowering the private sector to control prices". According to Noureddin, "the government should interfere to balance prices in the local market for the benefit of consumers." Noureddin added that the lack of active consumer protection societies presents opportunity for greedy traders to control market prices. In an attempt to control prices, the government decided to apply a package of procedures to face any shortage on food products during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in August. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif announced that all food commodities would be available in governmental cooperatives at reasonable prices, 15-20 per cent less than at market prices. A plan was also announced for the Holding Company for Food Industries to provide large amounts of basic foodstuffs, with an increase of 20 per cent on last year's total consumption in Ramadan. Meanwhile, Amin Abaza, minister of agriculture and land reclamation, approved a plan to participate in providing meat and poultry during Ramadan. Abaza announced that the plan includes providing 31,000 cattle, two million chickens, and 100 million eggs, all at reasonable prices. These products will be available at Ministry of Agriculture outlets next week. Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid asserted that all basic food commodities are available in the market and that there are no shortages. Rachid added that prices are similar to last year's, and that large supermarkets are offering big discounts. To receive consumer complaints related to price increases, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has a 24-hour hotline, in addition to undertaking wide campaigns aimed at clamping down on unjustified price hikes. The reasons behind the price hikes differ according to the product. For poultry and meat, the reason is a shortage in local production. The supply of poultry has been negatively affected by an ongoing epidemic of avian flu. Some 25 per cent of poultry farms were closed due to violations of health regulations applied by the Ministry of Agriculture. Local production of meat is also insufficient, so the Ministry of State for International Cooperation and the Ministry of Agriculture have committed to importing cattle from Ethiopia to fill the gap between local production and consumption. Further, the government is committed to providing 700 tons of fresh meat to be sold at LE30 per kilo in 12 governorates. As for vegetables and fruits, experts said that the hot weather is to blame for reduced production, and hence higher prices. Noureddin explained that heat negatively affects 95 per cent of some fruits, such as apples, while the current heat wave is expected to have a negative impact on other products, such as mangos and tomatoes. However, Noureddin blamed the Ministry of Agriculture for not playing a role in informing farmers of the best ways to deal with hot weather. "In these circumstances, the ministry should teach farmers to irrigate at night and to use certain chemical products to help the fruits and vegetables survive," Noureddin said. The Ministry of Agriculture, in an attempt to reduce its expenditure, has decided to allocate a support office in each governorate, instead of each village. Noureddin said it is difficult for farmers to move long distances to ask for agricultural information. Meanwhile, the increase in rice prices comes following a decision by the government to reduce the area of land cultivated in rice so as to save water resources. The result has been less production and higher prices.
