Food shortages: stories of strife across the globe

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA by Samira Banoo

Busi Mhlongo*, 30, a Malawian national, is employed at a carwash in one of Durban's suburbs. Unable to support her family with the basic income earned in Malawi, she chose to emigrate to South Africa in 2007, in search of better employment opportunities. When she first arrived in Durban she rented a bedroom in a house near her workplace. Today, the same room has to be shared by two more women. Busi confirmed that the reality in South Africa is not any different than in her country, "When I arrived I could afford my own room but today it's almost impossible; I barely managed to pay my rent, most of my money goes in food."

Her reality, like that of many others is mainly due to the fact that she has not received a raise in the last year. As she says, 'I only earn R300 per week with which I have to pay for food, rent and send money back home. It's hard because everything is gone up, rice, maize, milk and bread, but my wages hasn't. Even the price of cooking oil has trebled since January, we have to use the same oil three times.''

*name changed

ISTANBUL, TURKEY by Tamer Söyler

Derya Gundogan, 56, a retired government clerk, complained that his pay was Ytl.1.200 ($970) in 2007, and after one year he had only Ytl.70 ($56) increase in retirement salary whereas fuel increased by 15%. He manages a smile as he explains, "After the economic crisis of 2001, all of us became economy experts, and this had a direct effect on my life. They say, the transportation costs had raised and this triggered the food prices. Come with me I'll show you." Derya dragged me to the closest food market to prove his point. He asked the manager of the food store, a friend of his, to give us the exact prices of some of the food items from June 2007 and June 2008. "Look, you know in Turkey there are typical things we eat, I will just ask him about these only" he said. He starts reading from a list, "Bread, from Ytl. 0.40 ($0.32) to Ytl. 0.50 ($0.40); sugar, Ytl 1.80 ($1.45) to Ytl 2.15 ($1.73); 5 kg olive oil, Ytl. 35 ($28) to Ytl. 41 ($33); 5 kg sunflower oil, Ytl. 20 ($16) to Ytl. 28.90 ($23); rice, Ytl. 2.95 ($2.37) to Ytl. 3.75 ($3) etc."

Derya continued, "you don't need to be a genius to see the problem. Today my monthly expenses, meaning just my basic living expenses, have gone up to Ytl 1.300 ($1044) in total. This is more than my income! This means we are having a diet, but an unhealthy one!" When asked about the Turkish government's attitude regarding the economic condition, Derya became angry, "I don't like the ideology of (the ruling) Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP) and Prime Minister Erdogan, but because they did well with the economy I voted for them the last time. But their second term is totally different to their first term. After the 2001 crisis the priority was economy. Now, God knows what their priorities are!"

DAMASCUS, SYRIA by Bilal Randeree

Abu Maajid*, in his 80s, runs a small supermarket, selling basic groceries, cool drinks, snacks and odds and ends. He used to sell Egyptian rice (Zarzour) for SYL30 ($0.59) per kg and claims that the price has increased steadily to SYL90 ($1.77) per kg. 'But not for long, it will go up again soon. I just know it!' He used to sell 100kg of rice a week and now he sells anything around 5 to 10 kg a week.

Many people have stopped eating rice and now eat local wheat known as 'Burghur'. Even this has gone up from SYL20 ($0.39) to SYL50 ($1) per kg so sales have only marginally increased. 'One customer is my friend- he told me he is now eating just tomato and bread! Things are really bad and people are suffering', says Abu Maajid in broken English.

Canisters of gas used to sell for SYL175 ($3.50) when the cost price was SYL150 ($3). Now the government outlet is selling it for SYL275 ($5.50), the man who transports it adds on SYL25 ($0.50) and it's sold for SYL325 ($6.40) with a SYL25 ($0.50) mark-up. 'Petrol is the problem', he says. But he has no idea why the petrol price has gone up or who is to blame. There is no time to worry about that and there is nothing one can do but just try to work harder.

In some shops the employees make more than the owners. But jobs are not easy to find - his four married sons are all struggling to get proper jobs. The supermarket used to give him SYL10 ($0.20) profit for every SYL100 ($2) of sales- this has now dropped to 5%, and with the drop in sales, it is really tough to make ends meet. He has not paid the last four electricity bills and his phone has been cut because he couldn't pay the bill. He forces me to take the phone and listen - the line is dead and I'm greeted only by silence.

*name changed

CAIRO, EGYPT by Julten Abdelhalim

Muhammad Yusuf, 28, works as a janitor in a residential building in Cairo. Though he has an intermediate Diploma in Technical Education, he could never find any job that uses his qualifications. He earns less than a hundred US dollars per month He is responsible for a family composed of 8 individuals; his parents, his wife, his baby daughter, and his younger siblings whose education he is supposed to pay for. Since the age of 15, he has been working in low paid blue-collar jobs to ensure that his family meets their basic needs of food and education. He stresses that wages in Egypt, for the majority of the population, are ridiculously low. This is if anyone finds a respectable job in the first place. His wife has a BA in literature, however, it is impossible for her to find any job. He works 18 hours a day, and still he cannot afford to get a medical radiological examination for his wife who is sick. He says he cannot even describe his situation. It is not just food prices, all prices are soaring and wages remain low. No words can depict the suffering of young people of his age. He stresses the fact that he is simply "too exhausted and suffocated from everything".

CAIRO, EGYPT by Radwa Rabie

Nadi Atteya, 44, a doorman, lives in the security room at the bottom of an upmarket residential building in modern Cairo. Nadi has been living with his wife and four young sons in Cairo for the last 17 years. He left his small village a long time ago, and worked for some years as a builder, but after his contract ended he battled to find another job.

Nadi's monthly payment from guarding the building is 200 EGP ($38). This is supposed to cover their livings, food, buying clothing, and paying the school fees for his three young boys. "A few good people help me with it, otherwise I could not make it." Nadi says. Nadi explains further, "One kilo of meat is EGP40 ($7), but my monthly income is just EGP200 ($37), and the prices of everything else is increasing, like sugar, oil, meat, but my payment has not increased. It was increased a year ago from EGP150 ($28) to EGP200 ($37) and it remains there. Honestly, we have not tried the apricots this year still. One kilo is EGP4 ($0.75), and I have growing boys, and one kilo of such a fruit will not be enough. They used to like it, but now I have to substitute fruit with other basic items."

To provide protein for his growing boys, Nadi has begun resorting recently to substituting their meat diet with beans and potato. Once a week they could get a chicken, but in a family of six, it is hard to imagine one chicken weighing 1.5 kilos filling the hunger or appetite of all.

TUNIS, TUNISIA by Sebastian Veit

Sabrina Hajri, 26, a single mother in Tunis, struggles to survive. Although some prices like baguette and fuel are controlled and subsidised, the recent increase of prices effecting people in the low income groups is taking its toll. In Tunisia, there is no support program for single mothers; women support groups do not practically exist. The average wage for someone in Tunisia without any significant educational background is around US$200 to 300.

She explains her situation, almost reduced to tears, "Life is very tough for us here. I don't know how to make ends meet even though I am working hard every day cleaning other people's houses. I am counting every cent, but food & transport and rent are exceeding the little I am making". Often, during our conversation, she reminds me that she can no longer afford basic essentials like milk or tomatoes.

KAKOLA, TANZANIA by Mohamed Raiman

Caleb Lukaka, 28, works as a casual employee wherever he can find work. He lives with his wife and two children, aged 8 and 6, in a rented two-room, mud brick house. He has worked as a gardener and as a cleaner but has spent large periods of time either unemployed or doing odd jobs. Currently, he works as a cleaner in a clinic and earns 647 shillings an hour (50 US cents). He works 12 hours a day, with a 1 hour unpaid lunch break, and no benefits. He earns about TZS150 000 ($127) a month, of which TZS30 000 ($26) goes for taxes and rent. He buys all the food for his family of four from the village market – a diet that comprises largely of vegetables with the occasional meat or fish. Food costs about TZS3000 ($2.60) a day, amounting to 75% of his remaining salary. About a year ago, the same food was costing him about half of what he pays today (TZS1500 ($1.27) per day) or 38% of his salary. His salary has increased only slightly since last year, and now, with the majority of his income going to food, he has little money for clothing, medical expenses, school fees, books etc. Caleb doesn't always have a stable income, but he always has hungry mouths to feed.

ASIA:

BHOPAL, INDIA by Reva Prakash

Irawati Yadav, age 50, is a homemaker. She sometimes helps her son look after their small vegetable shop in Chunabhatti, Bhopal. The increases in the price of essential commodities have made life very difficult over the last few months. Earlier, the profit margins were modest and earnings amounted to around Rs.100-150 ($2.30 - $3.50) per day. But now, Irawati laments that it is difficult to even recover the amount spent on buying the vegetables. Potatoes have doubled in price in the last three months, while prices of tomatoes and onions have skyrocketed, trebling in the same duration. As there are no savings, the family can only afford to buy enough for a few days. They do not have enough money to buy wholesale in order to partially insulate themselves from prices that are increasing by the day. Irawati knows fully well that they are at the receiving end of processes over which they have no control but wonders why the prices of big cars haven't risen the way it has for essential commodities.

Buyers troubled by the price rise themselves bargain with Irawati, to decrease the price even if by one rupee. But she is relentless and says, "Buyers do not understand that the prices are not under my control. I go with my husband every morning to mandi (wholesale market for vegetable, fruit and grains) on a bus to buy the little that we can from his daily earnings, which range from Rs65 to Rs100 ($1.50 – $2.50) per day. These days we buy only five kilos of each vegetable because people everywhere are cutting corners to make ends meet. Then the cost of bus tickets has also increased by one rupee. The rent for the shop is fixed at Rs500 and I suspect that it might also increase in the days to come. I do not understand how I will be able to recover the cost if I sell for less. I, also, have to feed my family." She is worried that they might be pushed to the brink of hunger and poverty in the months to come

JAIPUR, INDIA by Nishtha Prakash and Flora Saint-Sans

Gayatri Sharma, 47, guard of the Sun Temple in the Pink City, runs her home through chadhava (offerings) and her husband's income as a clerk in one of the government banks. The family struggles between making ends meet, and maintaining their social status.

"The poor can live on onions and bread. We can't. We live on the most simple diet, but we make sure that our guests are served the best meals. She continues, "The prices of oil, pulses, wheat and salt – all indispensable ingredients in Indian cooking – have doubled in just one year. In just two months, sugar price has gone up from Rs16 ($0.37) to Rs20 ($0.46) per kg. Most of the spices cost twice as much today as they did a year ago. If food prices rise further, we cannot possibly cut down more on our basic diet – all the family members will have to work and contribute to the family income".

Sunil, a relative of Gayatri's, used to come up to the temple with his friends often and cook daal-baati (a Rajasthani delicacy made out of pulses and flour) for dinner. Now they don't do that anymore – they would rather save the money. Gayatri doesn't buy fruit as she used to before. Both Gayatri's and Sunil's families stick to their staple diet – delicacies like kheer (an Indian dessert made of rice and milk) are not affordable. They also go without an air cooler even on the hottest days for it saves the electricity costs. Unable to save anything, both Gayatri and Sunil's only investment in the future is investing in their children.

SUZHOU, CHINA by Huang Yue

Min Li*, 40, has been working as a taxi driver in Suzhou, a city in South East China, for the past six years.

Every alternate day, Min awakens at 7am and gets into his blue Santana car with anxiety on his face. He needs to work till 1 or 2am the next day to make ends meet. He normally takes the next day off to recover before he goes to work again, and continue the cycle: every week, every month, every year.

Supporting his nuclear family was relatively under control, until last year, that is. Since 2007, food prices have increased exponentially in China, Min points out, especially basic necessities like vegetables and meat. What has been the killer though, is the sudden rise in petroleum prices to unbelievably high levels, which has obviously hit taxi drivers very hard.

"We used to pay about RMB200 ($30) for gas everyday. And now we need to pay RMB250 ($36) or more, which is almost one third of our daily turnover. Apart from the cost of other things, we will lose RMB40-50 ($5-7) per day, RMB700-800 ($100-120) per month and RMB8000-10000 ($1200-1500) per year after the oil price markup", complained Min, knowing well that life must simply go on.

*name changed

SINGAPORE CITY, SINGAPORE by Karen Yeo

KK Yeo, 58, runs a transportation services business. KK is still servicing a mortgage for his flat, which he bought 9 years ago. He has three children in their late-twenties and early thirties. Desiring to be financially independent from his children, KK Yeo does not want his children to help service the mortgage for his flat. Therefore, he continues to provide a one-man transportation services, including the transportation of recycled goods for import and export.

He said that the increased prices, particularly fuel prices, have drastically affected his business. He used to own 3 trucks and hire 2-3 drivers for his transportation business 4 years ago. However, he had to sell off the trucks and let the drivers go due to increased overhead costs. Although he continues to meet his target revenue of SGD$3000 ($2200) monthly, KK Yeo says that it is no longer possible for him to save the SGD$1000 ($734) monthly that he used to save previously. Instead, he is finding it difficult to save even SGD$500 ($367) per month. When asked about what he intended to do with his savings, he replied that he had to prepare for "rainy days", including possible medical bills, which continue to soar. He sardonically commented that, "In Singapore, if you have no money, you better not fall sick. It would be better to die than to be suffering, broke and being a burden to everyone else around you."

His truck runs on diesel fuel and a full tank used to cost SGD$180 ($132), but now costs SGD$360 ($264). With this 100% increase in his fuel costs, he has chosen to mark up his service charges from the previous SGD$50-80 ($36 –$58) per trip to the current SGD$80-100 ($58-$73) per trip. To cut fuel usage, he avoids making multiple trips, but instead plans his routes carefully such that he can service 5-6 customers per trip. These, he concedes, means that the customer volume has dwindled. To meet his target revenue each month, he works 12-16 hours daily. He has also secured a contract transporting goods and materials to and from the port and the warehouses every Thursday from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. KK Yeo cuts down his personal expenses by buying cheaper food from canteens and coffee shops. Instead of buying cigarettes which costs about SGD$11 ($8) per packet of 20 from the shops, he has chosen to purchase contrabands at half the price. He admits that this is illegal, but says that, "everyone is doing something illegal to cut costs. It is a risk I am willing to take."

AUSTRALIA:

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA by Elizabeth Lyburn

O.J., in his fifties, operates a small business in Sydney, Australia, of home-delivering fruit and vegetables to clients in the cities' southern suburbs. Four mornings each week, he makes the trip out to the produce market at Flemington, hand-picks the necessary items, returns home to pack the orders over lunch, and delivers them in the afternoons when his clients arrive home from work.

While the rise in oil prices, the global food shortage and – in Australia – the on-going drought have been cited in the media as responsible for the rising price of fresh produce, O.J. says this is largely "rubbish". His fuel costs, he estimates, have risen only AUD$ 7 ($6.70) per week – which he says he could easily off-set by picking up one or two more customers – but he concedes for major transport companies it is much more of a burden, and likely to be reflected in rising supermarket prices for such items.

He still believes we are paying too much for our food though, but have other culprits to blame: the stall holders at Flemington markets. How? According to O.J., most of the stalls have belonged to the families who run them for a hundred years or more; and it is very tough to buy in. Flemington is also the third largest market of its kind in the world: overkill for a city of only 4 million people. Most food bought in Sydney will thus come from there. The result is lack of competition, and allegations of informal price fixing.

The much-hyped drought has largely affected livestock and grain farmers, making meat and cereals more expensive but not causing serious harm to the fruit and vegetable sector. The biggest threat he sees come from freak natural occurrences, such the recent floods in Queensland, that effectively wiped out a seasons' worth of mandarins and caused the price to triple overnight – a phenomenon that he laments city people simply can't understand because they don't bother to think about it.

EUROPE:

BERLIN, GERMANY by Katharina Weltecke

Firat Kurt, 24, runs a small döner kebab diner named Ali Baba together with his father Kemal and brother Cahit, one of many families of Turkish migrants in Kreuzberg, Berlin. All three acknowledge that their business is going slow. The price of dairy products and meat are becoming unbearable. As Firat says, "the cost for meat jumped up € 0.20 ($0.36) per kilo at least'. Once upon a time döner was prepared with more luxurious lamb, but tradition is proving to be too expensive; chicken will have to do. The anxiety of the Kurt family isn't an irregularity in Germany. The situation has even given birth to a new word in the press to describe the situation, 'Lebensmittelkrise' or food crisis.

"The price I pay for a box of salad varies from € 6 ($9.50) one week to € 12 ($19) the next. I can't make a calculation on the basis of such chaos'. A growing question is whether to raise the price of their döners, but Firat says making this decision is difficult, "the competition in Berlin is tough, too many of us migrants are involved in the same business". Consequently, customers rarely experience the increases. They come and go every week paying the same € 2.50 ($4) for döner. Firat argues that they do not want to risk losing their customers, but this does come with consequences. All seven employees are brothers, cousins and uncles coming from the same village close to Konya, and the small family business earns less to support them all.

Firat now regrets not completing secondary school and says he lacks skills dealing with wholesale and retail. 'I don't have proper training, nobody ever told us how to react in a situation like this'. He fears he does not have enough knowledge or background information and is at the mercy of international politics. "We are angry, very angry. Also about ourselves because we feel helpless" Firat admits.

MEDIAS, ROMANIA by Ercument Celik

Dumitru Popescu*, 50, works in the construction sector. A few years ago he wanted to apply for early retirement, but after seeing that the retired have the worst living standards in the country he decided to keep on working. Although Romania has rich natural gas resources, he says the increase in food prices in the country is mainly due to the price increases in natural gas and petrol, which are used in production and in the transport of processed food items such as sugar and sunflower oil. The price of 1kg of sugar has increased from Lei 2.70 ($1.20) to Lei 3.8 ($1.65) in one year. As they cannot afford olive oil they primarily use sunflower oil whose price has doubled as well. He is thankful that the bread has a constant price because of government's subsidies. Dumitru remarks that eating is culturally very important, that is why they have to accept these prices and try to save money from other expenditures. But he and his wife have already forgotten what healthy food is. They can go to a restaurant only once or twice a year. Like many other people they try to grow their own vegetables and fruit in their small garden. However, they still have to buy some of them. For example, they used to buy tomatoes from the local market, but now it is cheaper in the new supermarket-chains, which sell imported ones of poor quality. In general, they look for discounts in various supermarkets to fight price increases, but it actually does not help. Dumitru drives to the villages close to the city to buy milk directly from the farmers since he pays Lei 2.50 ($1.10) for one litre instead of paying Lei 3.70 ($1.60) at the supermarkets. He says "I cannot believe how everything became so expensive in the last year. In Romania nobody is dying from hunger at the moment, but I feel very sad when I see my retired colleagues fighting hard to survive".

*name changed

TRENTO, ITALY by Arianna Baldo

Armando Pedevilla, 57, is the owner of a little transport company situated in northern Italy, that imports/exports perishables all over Europe. Armando deals daily with the problems related to oil prices.

He argues that, "in the last six months the oil price increased by over €0.30 ($0.47) per liter. One single truck needs hundreds of liters of fuel daily […] then you have to think that my trucks transport mostly fruit and vegetables, which, in addition, need to be stored in refrigerated trailers that work with fuel as well." Armando tries to explain how hard it is to continuously bargain and re-bargain freight charges with clients vis-à-vis the higher transport costs due to fuel price increases. This, according to him, also explains why wholesale dealers are gradually less keen to buy imported goods and, at the same time, consumers are less tempted to buy as much as they used to do.

"Fruit and especially vegetables have become luxury goods" continues Armando, "and transporting them around is getting difficult. It is a paradox that me and my family are living in everyday life: on one hand I have to ask for higher transport prices in order to give my business a chance to survive, and on the other I have to suffer from the same cause when going to shop at the market, and my wife has to spend at least a couple of extra Euros just to buy bread…just to buy the most essential elements: flour, water and salt. We transporters are probably going to strike again at the end of the month. Food is becoming so expensive that the entire population should strike!" suggests Armando, leaving aside for a moment his entrepreneur's seriousness to give a bittersweet laugh.

*name changed

AMERICA(2):

BOGOTA ORTEGA, COLOMBIA by Ana MacNaught

Hugo*, 54 of Bogota, Colombia says that from July 1st, the price of fuel that is due to go up once more, is sure to add to his economic woes. In the past year, it has increased by more than 10%. While he does not own a car, his wife's vehicle is costing more and more, becoming quite a burden on the monthly family budget. To deal with the increase in general goods, Hugo and his wife have switched supermarkets, shopping in less hygienic but cheaper stores.

He says that supermarkets they used to frequent are today owned by European trans-nationals and the prices of all goods have increased to the point that buying goods in such supermarkets is often more than 400% more. Hugo says that it is a misconception that just the lower classes are being affected by such shifts in prices, the middle classes are feeling the pinch as well, many of whom are rapidly changing the way they live and spend.

*name changed

TORONTO, CANADA by Aimee Holmes

Wazhma, in her early thirties manages a small variety store in Toronto, specializing in a variety of fresh produce and foods from around the world. The rise in food prices have not spared her shop. "Tomatoes have gone through the roof," she laments, citing customer concern with a recent salmonella outbreak in the United States. Most of the produce she gets from the States has gone up in price, some rapidly. "We used to buy a case of watermelons for $200. Now it's $400." Customers seem willing to accept the price increase in some foods but simply refuse to buy others. A year ago she was selling two cases of flat beans a week. These days it's one every two weeks. "People don't want to spend $2.99 a pound for beans." With tangerines it's even worse and she may have to stop stocking them altogether as the minimal profit margin is simply not worth the trouble. Still, the prices in her shop are notably lower than what the major grocery stores offer. She returns to her work with a smile, "We're trying."

*Azad Essa is a journalist and researcher at IOLS-Research, UKZN.

*Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/