Food prices spiral

A rise last week in the price of bread and beef in Zimbabwe is a sign of more hikes to come for hard-pressed consumers over the next six months, consumer activists told IRIN.

Elizabeth Nerwande, the executive director of Zimbabwe’s Consumer Council, said recent fuel hikes and a currency devaluation will lead to a domino effect, especially on food prices. “We expect more price increases in the next six months, which will render poor people vulnerable to hunger,” Nerwande told IRIN.

Slaughter houses and refrigeration companies, who set their prices in US dollars, last week increased their beef prices by 25 percent, while bakers hiked bread by 15 percent. Both the bakers and butchers associations argued the increases were necessitated by a 24 percent devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar on 1 August, which they said increased their costs overnight.

Nerwande said her council is concerned that most businesses are profiteering out of the country’s economic crisis. “The increases will leave a lot of poor people hungry,” Nerwande said, adding that her council is lobbying government to introduce a temporary moratorium on price increases. “There should be measures in place to provide a cushion for the poor against profiteering.”

Zimbabwe, which faces fuel and foreign currency shortages, suffers a runaway inflation estimated at 60 percent, interest rates of nearly 70 percent and unemployment levels estimated at over 50 percent.