By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Households across North Africa are rushing to stock up on flour, semolina and other staples as food prices rise following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both key wheat exporters to the region.
The scramble is worse coming just weeks before the start of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims traditionally break a dawn-to-dusk fast with lavish family meals.
Tunisia, Morocco and Libya, along with several other Arab countries, import much of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia.
Some fear the Russian invasion could lead to hunger and unrest, with memories of how rising food prices played a role in several Arab uprisings last decade.
In one supermarket in the Tunisian capital, the shelves were bare of flour or semolina, and only three packs of sugar sat on a shelf near a sign that read: “One kilo per customer, please”.
Store managers said the problem was “panic buying”, not shortages.
Shopper Houda Hjeij, who said she hadn’t been able to find rice or flour for two weeks, blamed the authorities.
“With the war in Ukraine, they did not think ahead,” the 52-year-old housewife in Tunis said.
Bulk-buying ahead of Ramadan, which is expected to start in early April this year, is common in Muslim countries.
But some say the war in Ukraine has sparked a shopping frenzy.
Tunisia imports almost half of the soft wheat used to make bread from Ukraine. Authorities say the North African country has enough supplies to last three months.
Oil-rich Libya gets about 75 percent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine. Morocco also relies heavily on the same source for supplies.
Algeria — Africa’s second-largest wheat consumer after Egypt — does not import any from the two warring eastern European countries, instead sourcing it from Argentina or France, according to the bureau of cereals.
“There won’t be any shortages — wheat shipments regularly arrive at Algiers port,” said harbour official Mustapha, who declined to give his full name.
Despite reassurances, panicked citizens recently ransacked semolina stocks in Algeria’s eastern Kabylie region.
AFP