Strict action will be taken against those who ”manipulate” the price of bread, the government warned on Tuesday.
It was gravely concerned about rising bread prices, which inevitably affected the poor, the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Affairs said in a statement.
”While the government has zero-rated the price of brown bread to make it more economical and affordable, especially to the poor, reports from the National Agricultural Marketing Council’s food-price monitoring committee indicate a disturbing situation, reflecting very little price difference between white and brown bread.
”The government, together with the [council] and the Competition Commission, will step up monitoring measures on the bread value chain to ensure that strict action is taken against any form of price manipulation and the consequential disadvantage to the consumer.”
The ministry said it was looking into ways of increasing local wheat production, strengthening cooperatives along the bread-production value chain and encouraging the establishment of local bakeries, both in rural and peri-urban areas.
”The ministry will convene a meeting with the bread-producing industries [and] interested and affected parties to discuss the escalating price of bread and ways of mitigating the impact of the problem.
”The meeting will also take into consideration the civil society campaign for affordable bread prices,” it said. — Sapa