Sudan: crisis in east leads to shortage of bread in Khartoum
Audio 02:10
Bread is lacking in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.
© AP / Nariman El-Mofty
By: Eliott Brachet
2 min
For nearly a month, the eastern region of Sudan has been paralyzed.
Hundreds of protesters from the Beja tribe have raised barricades on the roads leading to Port Sudan.
They are also blocking port facilities and airports on the shores of the Red Sea.
The containers are piling up in the terminals causing heavy losses to the national economy.
The government is sounding the alarm on the serious shortages that this crisis could cause.
In Khartoum, there is hardly any bread left in the bakeries because the stocks of wheat have run out.
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From our correspondent in Khartoum,
The bakery has not yet opened its doors, but the line is now getting longer in the Oumdurman district, it is one of the only bakeries in operation. Hassan Mohammed stands in front of the metal gate. “
I've been waiting for hours. I turned a long time to find an open bakery. Everywhere I was told that there was no more flour. The consequence is that prices will increase,
”fears Hassan Mohammed.
The grid opens and the breads tear off in a few minutes.
Adia Abdallah is a tea seller, and the rise in prices is choking her.
“
The bun is sold at 35 pounds per unit.
It has increased a lot.
A year ago life was easier, bread was 5 pounds.
Three days ago it was 20 pounds.
I live on
2,000 pounds for the house
every day . I just spent 600 on bread alone. These last three days, it's very complicated for me. So is life in Sudan,
”breathes Adia Abdallah.
"The country is on the verge of chaos"
80% of the wheat needed for national consumption is imported and everything goes through Port Sudan, explains Issam Akasha.
This representative of a bakers' union in Khartoum owns five bakeries, but without flour, he could not keep them running.
For him, it is urgent.
In Sudan, every year, starting in May, we have exhausted all our stocks of wheat produced in the territory.
We then only depend on imports.
Today huge quantities of wheat are stored in Port Sudan.
This eastern region is our door to the outside world.
Sugar, gasoline, gas, drugs, everything is blocked.
The government must do something so that the crisis does not affect the citizens.
The country is on the brink of chaos.
An argument breaks out in the queue.
Some believe that the blockades in the east are instrumentalised by the military in power who allow the situation to deteriorate.
The generals would try to blame the civilian government.
The crisis is political, but the economic consequences are disastrous.
All in a context of heightened tensions between civilians and soldiers, three weeks after a foiled coup attempt.
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Sudan
Food