Soapbox:

Biting shame

By Saad Hagras

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The bread shortages we see today are utterly unacceptable. Bread is not just a food; it's a human right. No government can get away with failing to feed its own people. The government tells us that bread shortages are caused by higher international prices. Fair enough, but couldn't we have seen this coming? Couldn't we have taken precautions?

The prices of all agricultural products, and not just wheat, have been rising for sometime now. Climate change is only one reason. The US war on terror has put immense pressure on the planet's resources. And the Chinese and Indians are consuming more due to their higher standards of living. Also, several industrial nations have switched to biofuel, which means that less grain is available on the market.

Still, none of this happened too suddenly. Our government knew this was going to happen. I am assuming that it knew, for the alternative is unthinkable. These trends have been noted by various scientific publications around the world. The data has been available on the Internet for all to read. And yet the government would have us think that it was caught unaware, which if true would be the height of incompetence.

The government could have headed off the crisis before things got so bad. It could have negotiated better trade terms with grain producers, for example, or introduced a policy of self-sufficiency at home. Also, it could have tightened control over wheat flour racketeers. Instead, it waited and waited until it was too late. Now we have people killing each other for a loaf of bread. And the government is acting both innocent and puzzled.

There is a solution to the crisis, but it is not strictly bureaucratic. The usual reaction of the government would be to add another monitoring agency to the various ones we already have. That would be the wrong approach. The best way to deal with the current situation would be to get political parties and civil society involved in the distribution of bread. Perhaps we can even get local communities to deliver bread door to door. This would be a step closer to democracy and away from this bitter and biting shame.

This week's Soapbox speaker is managing editor of Al-Alam Al-Yom newspaper.