South Africa's Poor Struggle to Buy Food

CHAN:
Inflation is affecting countries across the globe but in Africa its already crunch time for the poor. Hard won economic advances for the country only make things worse for the poor. Lets see what's happening.

STORY:
Booming economies in South Africa from Zambia in the south to Rwanda in the east have severe consequences for millions of citizens.

Zambia's Central Statistics Office recently announced that the rise in demand for household energy is pushing inflation into double digits. Other factors like the increase in the price of oil for energy and fertilizer add more pressure. For some residents life has become unbearable.

[Enelesi Phiri, Lusaka Resident]:
"I sell packets of charcoal outside my home as you can see just to raise money to buy food for the orphans that I look after. I am a widow with no one else to help me buy enough food."

[Agness Mache, Lusaka Resident]:
"Eating which is supposed to be on a daily basis is no longer so. Mealie meal, beef, cooking oil, sugar is now so expensive that sometimes you wonder how to survive."

In Rwanda things are just the same.

[Alice Zaneza, Kigali Resident]:
"All food sellers say that they put up the prices because the petrol price is rising, but it is difficult for us because the government does not control how sellers rise their prices. In the last three years everything has almost tripled in price. If you come back here, all the prices will have changed and our salaries will still be the same. Tell me, how can you live?"

The Jesuit Centre is hopeful for the future but concerned about the current situation.

[Muweme Muweme, Assistant Director, Jesuit Centre]:
"From January up to the end of March there has been some increase in the cost of basic food. In fact, we are talking about a figure of 27 United States dollars which is close to a hundred kwacha in the local currency. Now, this is quite substantial."

In markets across Africa - the message is the same. Families that could just recently afford to eat, now can't. And anger is rising.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ntd
• ntdtv
• news
• Sout
• Africa
• poor
• Inflation
• price
• oil
• Energy

[487shawn]

oh yes i forgot to mention that when they do put in industrialised farming they are growing crops for china and the west, not staple crops for Africa!

[487shawn]

With all these foolish and misinformed comments, you do realise that the multinationals (from texas) and china have been buying up the productive foodland in Africa don't you and throwing off the small farmer leaving the ground fallow in case they might need it later, as well as fenceing in large areas makeing it difficult for nomads to bring thier animals to higher elevations to feed during drought, this is what has caused the the prices of food to sky rocket in Africa!

[hollymatterson]

These people need to have forex. Whether it be dollars, pounds, or euros. That hedges themselves against rises in prices. They could keep there local currency in a bank account, provided the interest rate is higher than the rate of inflation. Also the governments should mandate that wages be increased at the pace they print money.

[jumpingonglass]

I got 6,000 for them

[missleshp]

South Africa???

[CapitanoGUC]

wasen´t to bad with the white apartheid masa government - wasn´t it ......????? :-)

[LeFtHaNdTrAmPsGlOvE]

Way to waste time.

[makalo56]

Yeah exactly what is the story about south africa in this video? Puzzling indeed, I cant agree more

[cookeladoo]

Strange????

No one in the Video is from South Africs yet the title referes to South Africa??

Puzzling