Blue Nile, Khartoum short of bread

A lack of flour has resulted in a bread shortage in Blue Nile in the past days. Several neighbourhoods in Khartoum suffer from the same problem.

The bread crisis in Blue Nile started two months ago, a listener told Radio Dabanga. “But it has intensified, especially in the cities of Ed Damazin and El Roseires this week.”

He said that because of the lack of flour, bakeries are working only three times a week rather than working all days.

In Khartoum, a number of residents of Dar El Salaam and Saga'i neighbourhoods, which are in El Haj Yousif, have complained about the scarcity of bread during the past few days. A resident pointed out: “We are suffering daily as some bakeries in the area have closed and others reduced the sale of bread.”

The capital city has witnessed an undeclared rise of the price of flour, while others speculated that a number of bakeries have run out of cooking gas. One month ago, bakeries also closed in Umbadda, El Sawrat, and Fitihab districts in Omdurman, as well as number of neighbourhoods in Khartoum: they did not receive their official flour ration that week.

Last January the Ministry of Finance and the union of bakeries attributed the scarcity of flour in Khartoum, White Nile, El Gezira and River Nile to the non-distribution of flour from large distributors. Analysts attributed earlier flour crises, in 2015 and 2016, to the lack of hard currency at the Sudanese banks which forced the importers, reportedly including the government, to buy US dollars at the black market.