EL
SALVADOR:
Poor Eating Less While
Food Prices Soar
By Raúl Gutiérrez
SAN SALVADOR (IPS) -
Eating less is the only
option left to the
poorest of the poor in
El Salvador, in the face
of the steady rise in
global food prices,
which has had an impact
on the domestic cost of
staples like rice,
beans, tortillas, milk,
eggs and bread.
There is a serious food
crisis in El Salvador,
warn foreign experts,
consumer defence
activists and Human
Rights Ombudsman Oscar
Humberto Luna, who
described the outlook in
this impoverished
Central American nation
as "bleak."
Francisco García, a
29-year-old office
worker, complained that
"what I used to buy with
200 dollars now costs
300."
"The money that bought a
gallon of milk before
only buys half a gallon
now…we are eating less
than we used to," said
García while waiting for
a bus in downtown San
Salvador.
Homemaker Gabriela
Ortiz, 22, said her
budget has increased "by
60 to 80 dollars a
month" since the
beginning of the year.
World Food Programme (WFP)
representative in El
Salvador Carlo
Scaramella told IPS that
the United Nations
agency is carrying out a
study to assess the
projected impact of food
inflation on the poorest
sectors of the
population in El
Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras and Nicaragua.
Although the results are
not in yet, which means
"the effects cannot be
described in detail," it
is possible to talk
about what is already
happening, which is that
families have started to
reorganise their
budgets, he said.
"People have begun to
have less access to
food," and their diets
have gone down in
quality, as a result of
their shrinking buying
power, said Scaramella.
He also pointed out that
the situation in rural
areas is especially
serious, because every
poor household is now
"much poorer."
"Today people can only
afford half of what they
could buy a year ago,"
particularly in terms of
maize, beans and rice,
whose cost has risen
twofold, said the U.N.
official.
Statistics from the
Consumer Defence Centre
(CDC), based on
information from
government sources and
from the Regional
Council for Agricultural
Cooperation (CORECA),
indicate that the cost
of a month’s worth of
basic products for a
family of four in rural
areas climbed from 101
dollars to 123 dollars
between April 2007 and
March 2008, while the
cost of the basic
consumer basket went up
from 140.5 to 160
dollars a month in urban
areas.
The CDC also reported
that in the year ending
in January, the price of
a pound of beans rose
from 50 cents of a
dollar to 84 cents, rice
went up from 32 to 50
cents, and maize from 16
to 22 cents, while the
price of milk rose from
95 cents to 1.03
dollars.
That is a major shock to
family budgets, since
food absorbs more than
half of the incomes of
the poorest households,
according to the
Salvadoran Foundation
for Economic and Social
Development (FUSADES), a
private think tank.
Experts blame the
current global food
shortages on the use of
food crops --
particularly maize --
for the production of
biofuels, the record
high prices of oil and
fertilisers, and the
growing demand for food
products in emerging
powers like China and
India.
These external factors
have compounded the
problems caused by the
liberalisation of trade
and dismantling of the
agriculture sector --
policies that began to
be implemented in El
Salvador in 1990 by the
government of then
president Alfredo
Cristiani (1989-1994),
under the argument that
it was cheaper to import
food than to produce it.
These policies destroyed
the national agriculture
industry, while
companies involved in
importing grains
flourished, economist
Raúl Moreno told IPS.
"That was a fundamental
error," he said.
Ombudsman Luna said he
has witnessed the
"steady deterioration"
of the living standards
and food sovereignty and
security of Salvadorans
"with profound concern."
He recommended that the
government "decree a
state of national
emergency" and "take
measures to address the
crisis," including the
creation of a national
commission aimed at
helping the agriculture
sector to recover, and
the drafting of a law on
food security.
Two weeks ago, the
rightwing government of
Antonio Saca established
a multidisciplinary
commission to formulate
recommendations to deal
with the crisis.
Saca said he would leave
in place the subsidies
for propane cooking gas
and electricity, while
promoting national
production of food. But
he added that people
would have to "tighten
their belts."
The presidential
agricultural
commissioner, Carmen
Elena Díaz, confirmed to
IPS that the government
would invest some 115
million dollars in
"incentives for small
farmers," and would
support them with the
free distribution of
350,000 bags of
fertilisers and improved
maize seeds to boost
yields.
Many analysts have said
these measures are aimed
at gaining support for
the governing
Nationalist Republican
Alliance party, with an
eye to next year’s
elections.
Auxiliary Archbishop of
San Salvador Gregorio
Rosa Chávez complained
that in his
declarations, the
president only referred
to "external factors" in
the crisis, while
avoiding any mention of
"the policies
implemented in the
country" which he said
are also causes of
"these ills."
"An objective analysis
points to the opposite:
that the biggest
problems are inside the
country, and that this
is what must be changed,
because the rest
certainly has a harsh
effect, but it is not
the key point," said the
bishop.
He also criticised the
lack of representation
of farmers on the
multidisciplinary
commission.
Back on the streets,
62-year-old retired
bread factory worker Max
Flores said shopkeepers
are "speculating and
taking advantage of
their customers," since
there is no correlation
between the rise in
commodity prices and the
retail prices of food.
Giorgina Díaz, 30, who
is nine months pregnant,
said it was "absurd" for
Saca to urge people to
"eat less." |
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