Zimbabwe has only two weeks of wheat supply left, while citizens are faced with soaring bread prices, Zimbabwes main milling organisation has said, BBC Online reports Saturday.
The cost of bread has risen by 30 per cent in just one week, pushing Zimbabwes enormous inflation rate to more than 600 per cent. Zimbabwe has been in economic decline since President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned commercial farms in 2000.
David Govere, deputy chairman of the Millers Association, said, the scarcity of wheat has meant a reduction in supplies to bakeries. – Due to depleted stocks, GMB (state-run food distributor Grain Marketing Board) is now giving us 400 tons of wheat a week, down from 600 tons, he noted.
Shortages of wheat could force bakers to import flour from South Africa, which could lead to more price rises. A loaf of bread in Zimbabwe currently costs 66.000 Zimbabwean dollar (66 US cents – 5,50 DKR).
Zimbabwes opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the situation is becoming unbearable. Arthur Mutambara, leader of one of two factions of the MDC said, that “fuel is not available, commodities are unaffordable, unemployment 80 per cent, inflation above 600 per cent.
International aid agencies say about 4,3 million out of Zimbabwes 13 million inhabitants will require food aid until the next harvest in May, BBC adds.
