Bread price up again

ncrease at all,” said Industry minister Obert Mpofu.
Five years ago, shortly before the country’s inflation began to rise, a loaf of white bread cost Z$5,10.
The chair of the Bakers’ Association of Zimbabwe, Armitage Chikwavira, said if the government refused to increase the price, most bakeries would close and thousands of workers would have to be retrenched.
The new price was unlikely to make bread more available, as supplies of locally grown winter wheat were forecast to be 85 000 tons this year, a third down on last year’s output.
Last week, President Robert Mugabe lamented that farmers had only ploughed half of the 78 000ha for wheat growing expected by the government.
Before the seizures of productive commercial farms, Zimbabwe produced 400 000 tons of wheat a year.
The government’s failure to pay neighbouring countries for imports of electricity was expected to worsen the already small winter wheat crop, according to Kuda Ndoro, an economist for the Commercial Farmers’ Union.
Electricity supply by the state-run power utility was down to 30 percent of capacity, he said. “There is no power for irrigation on the farms,” he said. “If nothing is done to augment the supply, this will affect the performance of winter cereals.”- CAJ