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  • Bread lines in Egypt

    In Egypt, long queues for bread that's almost free
    Sun Apr 6, 2008 3:10am EDT
    By Cynthia Johnston


    CAIRO (Reuters) - Abdel Nabi Salim's main job in life is queuing for bread.

    The graying 65-year-old retired administrator stands under Egypt's glaring noon sun, waiting in a queue that snakes out to the street to buy 20 loaves of steaming subsidized pocket bread from a barred window for 1 Egyptian pound ($0.18).

    Egypt has for decades provided cheap bread for the poor as an expensive but essential component of its economic policy because it enables millions to survive on low salaries and wards off political discontent.

    But bread lines have lengthened in recent months as costs of other non-subsidized Egyptian staples soared, forcing more reliance on a subsidy regime that depends heavily on costly imported wheat and is also strained by a thriving black market.

    The current crunch means that once Salim buys his first batch of bread, he will return to the back of the line to wait, again, for the additional 10 loaves he needs to keep his extended family from going hungry.

    "This is a rotten system," he said, a half hour into a daily wait for bread that can last several hours. "I come here every day. I have no work, so this is my job. Waiting for bread."

    What is happening in Egypt illustrates some of the risks and trade-offs of subsidies, just as more countries worldwide are looking at such measures to try to ease the burden of spiraling global food prices on the poor.

    Excruciating lines have prompted media headlines of a bread "crisis" in the most populous Arab country, where cuts in bread subsidies led to riots in 1977 that killed scores and forced the government to back down.

    Egypt has allocated over $2.5 billion for bread subsidies for this fiscal year, but said that may rise due to soaring wheat costs. Yet the pressure over bread remains.

    Observers say sustained problems in the subsidy system could lead to a repeat of the 1977 crisis, if not quickly contained.

    "It may be something far more reaching and much more violent, I'm afraid, because people are increasingly feeling that their faces are to the wall," said Gouda Abdel Khalek, a Cairo University economist.

    DEATH IN THE LINES

    Already, at least 11 people have died in bread lines since early February, including a heart attack victim and a woman hit by a car while standing in a queue that stretched into the street, security sources said.

    One person was shot dead and three wounded after a fight broke out in a queue in one Cairo suburb. Elsewhere, an argument between two boys over their place in line escalated to a brawl in which four people were hurt.

    Top Egyptian officials have vowed speedy intervention to restore easy access to subsidized bread, which provides daily nutrition to 50 million Egyptians -- or over two-thirds of the population, according to U.N. statistics.

    "Egyptians must be given loaves of bread and the phenomenon of bread lines must disappear," Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad told journalists in March.

    President Hosni Mubarak has called on the military to help provide bread to the masses. One minister said security forces would provide an additional 2 million loaves daily and Egypt would raise the share of flour sent to bakers, state media said.

    Cairo baker Magdy Labib would welcome that. Speaking as workers shoveled dough into a large oven while crowds clamored outside for bread, he complained that rises in the prices of oil, pasta, rice and sugar had put pressure on his bakery.

    "The flour is not enough for these crowds outside," he said.

    Egypt's bread lines are largely fuelled by urban inflation, which hit 12.1 percent in the 12 months to February. Prices for dairy goods are up 20 percent, vegetables 15 percent and cooking oils 40 percent, Egypt's statistics agency said.

    To help cope, Egypt last week waived import duties on rice, dairy products, edible oils and types of cement and steel. Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid told a London newspaper Egypt had to act against inflation because of the danger it posed to its liberalization program.

    "People are coming and saying we don't have enough food to eat ... and that will hijack the whole reform program of Egypt. We cannot afford that," Rachid told the Financial Times.

    BLACK MARKET DEALS

    Egypt's liberalization program, which has included cuts in customs duties and the sale of state companies, has made Egypt an investors' darling, boosting economic growth to 7.1 percent last year. But most Egyptians still live in poverty.

    Egypt, meanwhile, has kept the price of subsidized bread stable at less than one U.S. cent per loaf, even as the cost of free-market bread and grain has surged 26.5 percent.

    The resulting queues have forced bakers to limit what a person can buy at one time to as few as 20 of the small, bubbly brown loaves -- not a lot for those buying for often large extended families. An average person consumes 3.2 loaves a day.

    Some, however, have also sensed opportunity in the current bread crunch: some bakers sell subsidized flour on the black market for a profit, a practice to which government inspectors had often turned a blind eye.

    Egypt indicted hundreds of bakers in March over black market deals in subsidized flour and seized 700 tonnes of flour, security sources said. Egypt also found thousands of violations, from overcharging for bread to producing substandard loaves.

    Aiming to cut corruption, Egypt has begun taking the task of selling subsidized bread away from the bakeries that produce it to prevent the flow of subsidized flour to the black market and to ensure bakers turn all their flour into bread.

    In parts of Cairo, white kiosks not attached to bakeries have sprung up selling subsidized bread. But lines remain in many places.

    "The government is trying to direct the subsidy to the right people, to the most poor. And of course to avoid any leakage through the bakeries, which was really a key problem," World Food Programme deputy country director Ayoub al-Jawaldeh said.

    Mohamed Ahmed, who runs a bakery in Cairo's poor Sayyida neighborhood and who has hired extra staff to cope with demand, agrees corruption should be stamped out.

    "Some of the bakery owners have no conscience ... They sell just a little bread, and the rest (of the flour) goes to the black market," he said. "If everyone worked right, there wouldn't be these crowds."

    (For previous stories, graphics, pix and video, click on:

    http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/agflation)

    (For a video report on Egypt's bread lines, click on:

    http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=79041)

    (Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile)

  • #2
    Corruption exacerbates Egyptian bread crisis

    Bread crisis highlights widespread corruption many rely on to get by
    http://www.dailystaregypt.com/articl...rticleID=13055
    By Maggie Michael
    First Published: April 11, 2008

    AFP PHOTO/CRIS BOURONCLE Vendors sell "baladi" bread to Egyptians crowding an outlet in the Nile Delta city of Mahala, 140 kms north of Cairo, on April 6, 2008. AFP Egypt is in the grip of a serious bread crisis brought on by a combination of the rising cost of wheat on world markets and sky-rocketing inflation. The price of bread has increased fivefold in private bakeries, creating panic in state-run bakeries that the staple may run out. Scuffles in bread queues are a daily occurrence, turning in recent weeks into violent clashes, leaving at least seven people dead, according to police. The rising costs of flour and the consequent bread crisis has further exposed corruption, which some describe as the only way to live by..

    CAIRO: It's a sore point for a country struggling to contain violent bread riots: Bakeries that sell subsidized flour on the black market at a huge profit.

    But bakery employees say they have to steal the flour and sell it ? both to feed their own families and to pay crushing government and police demands for bribes.

    The bread crisis has largely been fueled by worldwide rising food prices, which have pushed more people to rely on subsidized bread. The result has been shortages of the cheap staple and riots among customers waiting in long lines at subsidized bakeries.

    But the crisis has also highlighted the widespread petty corruption that pervades Egyptian life ? from bakeries to hospitals to police stations ? but that many who earn meager paychecks say is the only way to make ends meet.

    In one poor Cairo district, the government official in charge of a public bakery said that after 20 years in his position, he earns about LE 300 a month, including bonuses.

    ?I have to steal ? how would I survive without stealing?? the official, a father of eight children, told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition that he and the district where his bakery is located not be identified, fearing reprisals.

    He admitted that he regularly sells a portion of the subsidized wheat his bakery receives on the black market. The government sells a ration of subsidized wheat to each state-run bakery at about LE 8 for each 50-kilogram sack. The bakeries are supposed to use that wheat to produce bread that is sold at a set price of LE 0.05 per loaf. But many bakeries instead sell some of the wheat to private bakeries at up to LE 200 a sack.

    Part of the difference, the bakery employees pocket. But part is also needed to pay off the host of government inspectors ? from the police, from government officials and local councils ? who demand their own bribes.

    ?I just have to give bribes to most of them or they would file fines or close the bakery,? said the official, whose bakery receives 68 sacks of subsidized flour every day.

    A senior security official involved in government crackdowns on the black market wheat said public bakeries often sell off up to half the subsidized wheat they receive. He also acknowledged that many inspectors pockets bribes from bakers.

    ?Now if I'm an inspector and you, the baker, give me LE 1,000 a month while my salary is LE 200 a month, wouldn't I sell my conscience?? he said.

    Unless the government ?feeds the people, they will keep on stealing and receiving bribes,? said the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the situation.

    Baker Mohamed Abdel-Salam said he used to work for a private bakery that bought subsidized flour from public sector bakeries. ?Very late at night or in the early hours of the morning, I used to go to the big public bakery and pick up three or four sacks of flour,? for about LE 200 each, Abdel-Salam said. Private bakeries sell bread at market rates, up to 25 times the subsidized price.

    But Abdel-Salam said he quit his job when his bakery was forced to shut its doors after the government tightened its control over wheat over the past days.

    In response to the bread shortages, the government ordered the military ? which has its own bakeries for its members ? to start selling subsidized bread to the public and has opened hundreds more distribution points around the country. It has also sought to crack down on the black market for wheat. As a result, lines at public bakeries have eased in much of the capital, though they persist in many provinces.

    But the bread crisis has deepened widespread discontent over low wages in Egypt amid rising prices.

    Press reports last week said President Hosni Mubarak would order an increase in minimum salaries for public workers at an upcoming meeting of the National Council of Salaries, though details were not given.

    But many believe that will do little to reduce the corruption that has become a way of life for many.

    Examples are everywhere. At Cairo's airport, police take bribes from airport taxi drivers to prevent outside cabbies from picking up fares. At police stations, people seeking official paperwork must slip an officer a few pounds. Unless ambulance workers get their obligatory ?tips,? patients might not reach the emergency rooms in public sector hospitals on time ? and once there, patients must be sure to tip nurses to get basic care. In schools, nearly all students face pressure from their teachers to pay for ?private lessons? after school working hours.

    Galal Amin, an economist at the American University in Cairo, said corruption in Egypt is a ?law that cannot be violated.?

    ?The bribe, big and small, for public employees is not only expected but obligatory,? Amin wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.

    ?Bribes are given and received openly, without embarrassment. An employee considers it part of his monthly salary.?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Corruption exacerbates Egyptian bread crisis

      FAO April 2008 Africa crop and food outlook report doesn't seem especially gloomy:



      Nor did recent reports: http://www.fao.org/giews/english/cpfs/index.htm

      Global commodities speculation - the hottest game in investments - appears to be driving prices up at a steady pace. Internal corruption looks to be the a significant contributor to food shortages (per reports above), coupled with significant poverty rate (40&#37 and continued explosive population growth.

      1947 - 19.1 million.
      1976 - 36.6 million +9.16/decade
      1986 - 50.4 million +13.8/decade
      1996 - 59.3 million. +8.9/decade
      2006 -76.5 million. +17.2 or 22% population change

      Population Under 15 Years Old 32%

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Bread lines in Egypt

        Province ?Cairo? begins experience ?bread coated? in Helwan and identification

        كتب منار خاطر ١٦/٤/٢٠٠٨
        Al Manar Khater 16/4/2008 <table style="border-collapse: collapse; text-align: left; direction: ltr;" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td align="right" valign="top"><articlebody></articlebody>
        محافظة القاهرة، تبدأ خلال الأسبوع الحالي، تجربة تغليف الخبز المدعم في بعض مخابز جهاز تشغيل الشباب التابعة للمحافظة في منطقتي التبين وحلوان..
        Cairo governorate, beginning this week, the experience of packing subsidized bread bakeries in some of the operating system to keep young people in the identification and Helwan ..
        وذلك في إطار خطة لتقديم خبز صحي للمواطنين، وأكد اللواء طلعت منصور، رئيس جهاز تشغيل الشباب، أن المشروع يوفر الوقت والجهد بالنسبة لأصحاب المخابز والمواطنين، خاصة أن تكلفة التغليف لن يتحملها المواطن، وسيباع الرغيف بالسعر نفسه، وهو خمسة قروش، وقال إن الدكتور عبدالعظيم وزير، هو صاحب اقتراح بدء التجربة في حلوان والتبين، لأنهما من المناطق ذات الكثافة السكانية العالية.
        That part of a plan to provide bread health of the citizens, and stressed Major General Talaat Mansour, the head of the Authority of youth employment, that the project would save time and effort for the bakery owners and citizens, especially as the cost of packaging will not be borne by the citizen, and sold bread price itself, which is five piasters, and said that Dr. al Minister, is the proposal to launch the experiment in Helwan and identification, because they are part of densely populated areas.
        وسيحتوي مغلف الخبز الواحد علي ٢٠ رغيفاً بقيمة جنيه واحد، بما يضمن سرعة وصوله إلي المواطن.
        The envelope will contain bread at 20 per Rgiva value of one pound, to ensure speedy arrival to the citizen.




        </td></tr></tbody></table>

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        • #5
          Re: Bread lines in Egypt

          Government: marked improvement in the distribution of bread and whole chapter on the distribution of production in 8 provinces 4/16/2008 10:05:00 AM
          <!-- Image --><table style="text-align: left; direction: ltr;" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="180"><tbody><tr><td><script type="text/javascript"> <!-- function pop() { var generator=window.open('','name','height=500,width= 500,status=1,scrollbars=1'); generator.document.write('<html><head><title>Masra wy - الحكومة: تحسن ملحوظ في توزيع الخبز وفصل كامل للإنتاج عن التوزيع في 8 محافظات</title>'); generator.document.write('<link rel="stylesheet" href="/style/news.css">'); generator.document.write('</head><body>'); generator.document.write('
          '); generator.document.write('
          '); generator.document.write(''); generator.document.write(''); generator.document.write('</body></html>'); generator.document.close(); } //--> </script></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
          القاهرة - استعرض الدكتور أحمد نظيف رئيس الوزراء الثلاثاء تقريرين لوزيري التضامن الاجتماعي والتنمية المحلية أكدا علي تحقق تحسن ملحوظ في توزيع الخبز خاصة فيما يتعلق بفترات الانتظار أمام المنافذ .
          CAIRO - reviewed Dr. Ahmed Nazif, Prime Minister Tuesday reports to Ministers of social solidarity and Local Development stressed achieved marked improvement in the distribution of bread especially regarding waiting periods before outlets.
          كما اشار التقريران الي نجاح 8 محافظات في فصل الانتاج عن التوزيع بنسبة 100% سواء علي مستوي المخابز أو منافذ التوزيع وبلغت نسبة فصل الانتاج عن التوزيع في المخابز علي مستوي الجمهورية 72 %، بينما بلغت 62% علي منافذ التوزيع.
          Reports also pointed to the success of 8 provinces in the separation of production from distribution by 100% both at bakeries or distribution outlets and accounted for the separation of production from distribution in the bakeries nationwide 72%, while 62% of distribution outlets.
          وقد تم تعديل مواعيد تشغيل المخابز التي تم فيها فصل الانتاج عن التوزيع بما يضمن توافر الخبز المدعم علي مدي الساعة، حسبما ذكرت صحيفة الاخبار..
          Has been amended dates Works bakery where they had been separated from the distribution of production so as to ensure the availability of subsidized bread over an hour, according to the newspaper Akhbar ..
          جاء ذلك خلال الاجتماع الرابع الذي عقده الدكتور أحمد نظيف في اطار سلسلة اجتماعاته لمتابعة تطورات عملية انتاج وتوزيع الخبز والاجراءات التي يتم تنفيذها لمواجهة ظاهرة الاختناقات التي شهدت عملية توزيع الخبز خلال الشهر الماضي.
          This came during the fourth meeting held by Dr. Ahmed Nazif part of a series of meetings to follow up developments in the production and distribution of bread and procedures to be implemented to counter the phenomenon of bottlenecks which saw the distribution of bread during the past month.
          حضر الاجتماع وزراء المالية والتضامن الاجتماعي والتنمية المحلية.
          The meeting was attended by Ministers of Finance, Social Solidarity and local development.
          وصرح د.مجدي راضي المتحدث الرسمي بمجلس الوزراء بأن التقارير التي استعرضها رئيس الوزراء قد عكست مؤشرات تم رصدها خلال الاسبوع الأخير.
          An d. Magdi Radi Spokesman Cabinet that the reports reviewed by the Prime Minister had reflected indicators were monitored during the last week.
          وتضمنت تنفيذ زيادة جديدة في حصص الدقيق ببعض المحافظات التي طلبت وبلغت هذه الزيادة 2400 طن شهريا ليصل اجمالي الكمية الاضافية التي تم طرحها بشكل عام علي مستوي الجمهورية الي حوالي 30 الف طن شهريا.
          The increase included the implementation of new quotas exact some provinces that have requested this increase amounted to 2400 tons per month for a total additional amount that had been raised in general on the republic's level to about 30 tons per month.
          وفيما يتعلق بجهود الرقابة اكد الاجتماع انه يتم التنسيق الكامل بين مديريات الأمن والمحافظات وشرطة التموين ومختلف الجهات الرقابية والتنفيذية بشكل مكثف لضبط المخالفين والمتاجرين سواء في الخبز أو في الدقيق.
          Regarding efforts Oversight confirmed that the meeting will be full coordination between the security departments and district and Police Supply and various regulatory and operational intensively to catch offenders and traffickers in both bread or flour.

          وأشار الاجتماع الي استمرار جهود الأجهزة الأخري وعلي رأسها جهاز الخدمة الوطنية للقوات المسلحة ووحدات الشرطة المنتجة للخبز
          The meeting pointed to the continued efforts of other organs, especially the National Service of the Armed Forces and police units producing bread
          والوحدات المجمعة التابعة لوزارة الاستثمار في طرح كميات اضافية من الخبز وتوزيعها في منافذ محددة تشهد اختناقات.
          The combined units of the Ministry of Investment to raise additional quantities of bread and distribution outlets in specific experiencing bottlenecks


          الاهتمام بنقل الأحداث بجميع أنواعها, وتوفير معلومات كاملة إلى كل شرائح المجتمع ووضعها أمام عين القارئ دون تحريف أو تزييف, كما نتناول تغطية متميزة لكل القرارات والنشاطات الحكومية وما يتبعها من ردود أفعال, تناول أبرز ما اهتمت به الصحف العربية والعالمية, ورؤيتها للشأن المصري الداخلي, ومحاولة وجود نافذة على العالم لرؤية أكثر اتساعا إنسانيا وثقافيا وحضاريا, عالم يموج بالاضطرابات والنزاعات, تغيب أحيانا الحقائق, وتتوه المعلومات وسط زحام لا نهائي من الأخبار, نختار لكم أبرز ما يدور عربيا وعالميا, لنطرحه في ألوان صحفية شتى دون تحيز, لتكون على اتصال مباشر بقريتك الكونية, ومتابعات لما وراء الأخبار وتقصي للحقائق عبر تحقيقات ميدانية تهم المواطن المصري في كافة المجالات, متابعة القصص الانسانية والجانب الاخر من التغطية الخبرية في قالب مشوق وجذاب, وتغطية الاخبار الخفيفة من مصادرنا, يهتم بأهم الأحداث الاقتصادية في مصر من خلال رصد وتحليل أبرز المتغيرات والقضايا الاقتصادية التي تهم المواطنين بشكل لحظي, ويهتم بأبرز الموضوعات التقنية في مصر والعالم, وتطورات فيروس كورونا


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