By Yuggu Charles & Paulina Poni
The continued rise in food pieces in Juba has dampened the spirits of many residents, even as they prepare to celebrate the birth of their new nation in July. In most parts of Juba, sorrow and helplessness are quickly replacing the excitement that hung in the air soon after the Southern Sudanese people voted, to the last man and women, to separate from the North.
A survey in most parts of the capital showed that the prices of basic foods and essential commodities had risen to an all time high, severely affecting the living standards of middle and lower level income groups. Retail prices of cabbage, eggs, tomatoes, kale and other food stuffs have more than doubled since January this year, due to what observers attribute to an erratic supply from Uganda, the main source of food consumed in Juba.
At Jebel market, 32 year old Jesika Kuynge, a mother of four, walked from one stall to another pleading for a discount from the traders. She was shocked to learn that prices of food stuffs had doubled within just one week.
“They are selling five pieces of tomatoe at 5 Sudanese Pounds. I can’t afford this,” protested Jesika as she moved to another stall where a tall elderly trader from Uganda was selling cabbages. She added: “I have to look for alternatives. Maybe I should look for where I can buy ready made tomato paste that costs only one Sudanese pound.’’
Jesika said the price of meat has also increased from 12 Sudanese pounds to 16 Sudanese pounds in most butchers in Juba. “One litre of cooking oil has climbed to 6 Sudanese pounds, while 20 litres of vegetable cooking oil has risen to 125 Sudanese pounds, up from 75 pounds.”
She explained: “I spent 15 pounds a day for my family. We can only afford one meal per day and things are getting worse.” Her salary of 500 Sudanese Pounds, she lamented, was too little. Like most of the residents and traders, Jesika attributed the high cost of food stuffs to the fact that all the food in the market is imported from Uganda and Kenya.
A trader called Paul Pitia Jacob commented, “why can’t our government start planning for massive food production since we have so much arable land? The common person is suffering because somebody somewhere does not want to listen to his concerns. It is a situation where the well fed do not understand the plight of the hungry and angry”.
Another resident, Nyoka Easter Noel, 29, a mother of three, said traders had hiked up the prices because of the high cost of transporting the food to Southern Sudan. “Traders incur a lot of expenses while transporting food from Uganda and Kenya. They are passing these losses on to poor consumers,” she said.
The story is the same at Gudele on the outskirts of Juba. Twenty year old Susan Keji Ezibon is a mother of five and can hardly make ends meet. “The situation is worse here because of its remote location. Traders here have to travel to Juba to get the food,” she said.
But why can’t the traders reduce the prices? A member of the Association of Traders of Juba Payam, Lily Jigi Mark, said that the biggest cause of the rise in prices was the high transportation costs and the strong US dollar. The US dollar is a widely used currency besides the Sudanese Pound.
She said trucks transporting food to South Sudan spend many days on the road due to being stuck on poor roads, especially along the Kampala-Nimule road. There are also several road blocks mounted by both Ugandan and South Sudanese security officials. “The high taxes we pay at the road blocks get passed on to the consumer,” she said.
A Ugandan trader, Fatima Ejobiru, 40, who is based at the Konyo-Konyo market said the long delays on the road were very costly, due to the fact that huge quantities of food go bad while in transit.
“It takes one to two days to bring goods from Kampala to Nimule then you have to stay there waiting for clearance by the customs authorities. By the time you get to Juba, the vegetables, bananas and even other fruits have started rotting. Imagine you start counting your losses on the way. This is why we have to double the prices of the little that we manage to bring to the market”, added Sophia Abdi, a trader who sells dry fish and vegetables.
The traders are appealing to the Southern Sudanese government to improve roads and reduce police check points on the main highways, as well make efforts to increase domestic food production in order to alleviate the problems.
