Prices of beef, chicken and lamb 41 per cent higher this August than in the same month last year. The cost of cooking oil rose almost 50 per cent and fish 33 per cent.
The Sudanese Consumer Protection Society (SCPS) has now organised a boycott of meat products, which are a staple of the country’s diet.
“Meat has become too expensive, though it’s mostly locally produced – prices are not justified,” says SCPS head Yassir Mirgani Abdulrahman. “A kilo of meat costs 30 or even 36 [Sudanese] pounds. One year ago it was 20 pounds. [Our protest will] continue with other products. Milk and vegetables such as lentils are also too expensive.”
Lawyer Ishraga Youssef joined the meat-free protest this weekend. She told Reuters: “Meat is so expensive, so from today we don’t have meat any more in our house. It’s not healthy anyway.”
Oil-rich southern Sudan declared independence from the rest of the country earlier this year, leaving the economy in crisis and food prices spiralling across the board.