Burundi : food prices are rising excessively

Families are unable to feed themselves properly because of the price of basic products that have increased. Consumers are sounding the alarm.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Soaring prices of products such as beans and rice are making many people tremble. Overnight, supply markets change prices, leaving sellers and buyers alike in great astonishment. Rice and beans are the staple foods for Burundian households.

Locally grown rice costs between 4,200 and 4,800 Burundi francs per kg.

It has increased by at least 500 francs in the last two months.

The same goes for the locally produced Kinure bean variety. A kg currently costs between 3500 and 3800 francs, an increase of at least 500 francs for the same period.

“We no longer stock up like before because now when you arrive at the market, you realize that you have made bad calculations. The money suddenly becomes insufficient”, says a mother met at the exit of the market commonly called Chez Sion in the north of the commercial city Bujumbura, the most populated in Burundi and where the United Nations agencies and the central administration are concentrated.

Traders give as their only explanation the lack of means of transport to transport goods to the markets.

“Following the lack of fuel, the products reach us at a very high price. In our turn, we have to find a way to recover the money spent. It is in no way our fault”, explains a local trader.

In the neighborhoods, everyone sells as they wish without worrying about what happens next.

The price of tomatoes and onions has also been revised upwards to 1000 francs per kilo, the same case for cassava and corn flours.

Residents of the commercial capital who spoke to SOS Médias Burundi, affirm that currently, following this rise in prices, they have already started to change their diet.

“For a long time, we did not have much choice to make for our food. Today when everything becomes expensive without salary ncreasing, our life becomes untenable”, laments a diabetic who finds himself in difficulty to feed himself.

Fresh peas and beans have become so expensive that households and entities that celebrate in recent days cross them off the list because they cost up to 20,000 francs per kilo. Faced with this situation, consumers are asking the government to regulate prices to avoid speculation. They fear a worse situation especially as we approach the end of year holidays.

But with the fuel shortage that has lasted almost 48 months, all stakeholders agree that it is almost impossible to successfully regulate prices on the local market, with transporters and traders having no other choice but to go and get supplies on the black market at a very exorbitant price to fill the ta of their vehicle, if they manage to find any.

——

A food market whose price has significantly increased in the northwest of Burundi (SOS Médias Burundi)