Bread shortage: ‘South Darfur to withdraw licences from corrupt bakers’

The daily distribution of flour is to be closely monitored in South Darfur, and the commercial sale of bread has been banned to combat corrupt practices that are exacerbating shortages.

The governor of South Darfur, Maj Gen Hashim Khalid warned bakery owners against corruption and manipulation with the weight of bread, or illegal transaction in flour. He said anyone found to be manipulating the system will have their license withdrawn.

He also instructed the authorities to stop the commercial sale of bread, and that no new bakeries should be created until those currently operating can be monitored, he said.

North Darfur to monitor bread standards

In El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, the economic committee, bakery owners, and the committee of flour distribution agreed on the necessity to provide bread to the people in North Darfur in accordance with the required standards.

“The people have the right to bread produced according to the required standards and specifications,” Gariballah El Gasim, director of the Trade Department at the Ministry of Finance in North Darfur said.

As reported by Radio Dabanga last month, Sudan’s Minister of Industry and Trade Madani Abbas, has apologised to the Sudanese people for the lack of a solution to the bread shortage. He affirmed the state’s commitment to continue subsidising bread until the end of the transitional period. The government currently subsidises a sack of flour by more than SDG 1,600*.

At a press conference in Khartoum on February 12, Abbas assured that flour stocks are sufficient until May and that the government is in the process of signing agreements to secure wheat until the end of the year.

He said that the ministry identified the weight of the loaf of bread by 45 grams for one Sudanese Pound*.

* USD 1 = SDG 55.1375 at time of posting. As effective foreign exchange rates can vary in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily middle US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS).

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