The flight of commodity prices in global markets revives the spectrum of the 2007-2008 hunger riots.
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The kilo of millet flambos in Bamako; cooking oil is increasingly rare and dear to Nairobi; The egg box has become a luxury product on the lagos markets … the signs of tension on the price of basic commodities are multiplying through Africa, fueling the fears of a generalized food crisis on this mainland already very vulnerable, where one in five people do not eat at his hunger.
Concern is all the more lively as global food prices have increased further in November for the fourth consecutive month, registering at their highest level since July 2011, According to the monthly barometer published on 2 December by the World Organization for Agriculture and Food (FAO) . In one year, this indicator, which aggregates prices on the international markets of several commodities (cereals, dairy products, sugar, oils, meat …), climbed more than 27%.
This inflation will increase the invoice of African states dependent on imports to feed their population. For example, Africa imports a third of the cereals it consumes – and even more than 50% in North Africa -, according to FAO. However, wheat prices now reach a unprecedented level since May 2011. A challenge in countries where households can devote to food expenses up to two-thirds of their income.
The outbreak of prices resuscitates the spectrum of the 2007-2008 food crisis. At the time, wheat classes then other cereals had almost doubled. A bite that had triggered violent hunger riots around the world and especially on the African continent, from Dakar to Ouagadougou, passing through Cairo.
The very heavy weight of the pandemic
“The situation is worrying, but also more complex than in 2008, says Jean Senahoun, economist at the Regional Office for FAO Africa. There is, as at the time, a flight of prices, but In addition, other shocks such as COVID-19, significant climate disturbances and many conflicts. “
The pandemic has had a very heavy effect on food systems. First, causing job and income losses on a continent that has experienced its first recession in 2020 for a quarter of a century. The power purchasing power of the populations has been severely shaken. Even more in the countries that have seen their currency depreciate, as in Ghana, Nigeria or Sudan: the fall of currencies has increased imported inflation.
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