![[Guinea-Bissau] Woman working in fields.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/1746.jpg.webp?itok=BRUCwk-O "Woman tending to her crops")
In an effort to control the cost of rice in Guinea-Bissau as it soars above state-dictated levels, the Ministry of Commerce is coming down hard on merchants who inflate prices.
A 50 kilogram sack of rice should cost between CFA 10,500 and 11,500 (US $21 and $23) in the capital, Bissau, and 12,000 (US $24) in the interior of the country, according to official government prices. In reality, a sack of rice sells in Bissau for an average of CFA 13,500 (US $27), and in the interior has climbed up to CFA 15,000 (US $30).
Residents of Guinea-Bissau, a tiny and chronically poor West African coastal state, struggle with some of the worst poverty in the region. Their poor standard of living has been compounded by political instability that triggered a civil war from 1998-1999.
The average civil servant - whose salary is often several months in arrears - earns about US $30 per month. A 50-kilogram sack of rice lasts the average family about one month because many families eat only one meal a day - their dinner.
The country's economy is based almost entirely on subsistence agriculture, although it is a net food importer. There is scant manufacturing or industrialised economic activity. The bedrock of the national economy is cashew nuts, which are sold off in unprocessed form bringing in minimal returns for the country.
To crack down on price speculators, the Commerce Ministry said it would close shops or revoke permits and licences from merchants if they did not stick to the rules.
In an effort at proving its seriousness about the campaign, earlier this week the ministry made a presentation of its seizures on state-run television. It showed five tonnes of rice and 12 licences to trade that had been confiscated.
The inspector general of commerce, Mamadu Embalo, warned that many traders would lose their right to work definitively in Guinea-Bissau for violating the regulations. He also said the seized rice would be given to an orphanage.
He guaranteed that the war against speculation on the price rice would be followed through in all regions of the country.
ab/nr/cs
A 50 kilogram sack of rice should cost between CFA 10,500 and 11,500 (US $21 and $23) in the capital, Bissau, and 12,000 (US $24) in the interior of the country, according to official government prices. In reality, a sack of rice sells in Bissau for an average of CFA 13,500 (US $27), and in the interior has climbed up to CFA 15,000 (US $30).
Residents of Guinea-Bissau, a tiny and chronically poor West African coastal state, struggle with some of the worst poverty in the region. Their poor standard of living has been compounded by political instability that triggered a civil war from 1998-1999.
The average civil servant - whose salary is often several months in arrears - earns about US $30 per month. A 50-kilogram sack of rice lasts the average family about one month because many families eat only one meal a day - their dinner.
The country's economy is based almost entirely on subsistence agriculture, although it is a net food importer. There is scant manufacturing or industrialised economic activity. The bedrock of the national economy is cashew nuts, which are sold off in unprocessed form bringing in minimal returns for the country.
To crack down on price speculators, the Commerce Ministry said it would close shops or revoke permits and licences from merchants if they did not stick to the rules.
In an effort at proving its seriousness about the campaign, earlier this week the ministry made a presentation of its seizures on state-run television. It showed five tonnes of rice and 12 licences to trade that had been confiscated.
The inspector general of commerce, Mamadu Embalo, warned that many traders would lose their right to work definitively in Guinea-Bissau for violating the regulations. He also said the seized rice would be given to an orphanage.
He guaranteed that the war against speculation on the price rice would be followed through in all regions of the country.
ab/nr/cs
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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