Staple foods increasingly inaccessible as prices rise

A 150 percent hike in the maize producer price as well as a 50 percent increase in bread prices, brought on by a shortage of flour, is going to make staple foods inaccessible for ordinary Zimbabweans, say NGOs.

"Most Zimbabweans cannot afford mealie [maize] meal - which costs more than Zim $20,000 (US $9.48) for a 10 kg bag - when it is available in the retail outlets," said a representative of a food security monitoring agency.

Annual inflation in Zimbabwe stood at 583.7 percent last month. For the past few years the country has been ravaged by food shortages and an average monthly food basket now costs at least Zim $500,000 (US $94.85). The average salary of a worker is about Zim $80,000 (US $15.77) a month.

The government announced that the maize producer price for this year's marketing season would rise to Zim $750,000 (US $142.58) per mt, an increase of 150 percent from last year's price of Zim $300,000 (US $56.91) per mt, the official Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Zimbabwean Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Joseph Made said in a statement that the new price "will enhance maize producer viability, by ensuring that farmers get a positive return", which he expected would be at least 26 percent.

Economist John Robertson commented that "the price of mealie meal sold in retail outlets will increase by as much" following the announcement. He pointed out that maize was "already being sold at as much as Zim $1 million (US $227.66) a tonne, and [the higher price] will have no affect in terms of encouraging growers".

Minister Made said the Grain Marketing Board would continue to sell maize to millers at Zim $400,000 (US $75.89) per tonne in areas where food relief was being distributed by the government.

The official media reported on Wednesday that the price of bread had gone up by 50 percent. A monitoring coordinator of an NGO observed: "Bread was being sold at Zim $2,100 (US $0.39) per loaf - it is now available in urban areas at prices ranging between Zim $2,800 and $3,000 (US $0.53 to $0.56) per loaf, while it is far more expensive in the rural areas."

"There has been a shortage of maize in the market," Robertson added. "The situation might improve when the new crop hits the market."