Bread shortages in Darfur and eastern Sudan, school children protest

People in East Darfur and Red Sea state have complained about the rise of prices of bread. Children in Sennar went out to protest in the streets after several schools closed their doors because of the lack of bread.

Residents in Asalaya in East Darfur reported to Radio Dabanga that the price of one piece of bread has amounted to five Pounds. A dish of Egyptian fava beans in restaurants has gone up in price from SDG40 to SDG50 ($1.77*).

A number of residents in Suakin, in eastern Sudan's Red Sea state, said they are buying six breads for ten Pounds from the bakeries. Meanwhile bakery owners said they are buying flour from the main flour distributor in Suakin at the commercial price of SDG1,320 for one 100kg sack.

School children out on streets

In Sennar state, many bakeries stopped working because of the lack of flour. Several schools closed their doors to students because of the overpriced bread, as the price jumped to 2 Pounds a piece. School children in the town of Mairno went out to the streets, shouting slogans against hunger and high prices.

Back in August, the Minister of Finance, Economy and Consumer Affairs of Khartoum State, Adil Mohamed Osman, said that the bread crisis was nearing its end. The situation has continued unabated instead.

Throughout Sudan the shortage of fuel has hit its citizens in the past weeks to months. It heavily impacts millers and bakers, but has also led to a transportation crisis that exacerbates the shortage of fuel and consumer goods. This week people in Khartoum reported that queues of people and vehicles in front of bakeries and fuel stations respectively have become typical of the current fuel crisis in the city.

End 2017, the Sudanese government decided on a package of austerity measures in an attempt to address the huge gap in its finances. One of the measures included the liberalisation of the flour market which lead to the doubling of the bread prices.

* All SDG currency conversions are based on the daily US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS)