Almost in all of the major religious holidays in Ethiopia, it is common to see a radical turnaround in peoples’ diet. In particular holidays like Christmas and Easter prompt an immediate shift from vegetables to meat and dairy products on the day of the celebration. The sudden shift causes some to writhe with stomach aches.
But, it is not all about having a holiday feast; most of these holidays are indeed preceded by an extended fasting season. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s fasting culture dictates abstinence from any meat and dairy related products. So immediately after the fasting season is over, such products are consumed in large quantities.
Nevertheless, over the past six or seven years, holiday season coverage by most of the local media seems to focus on one issue—the price of edibles. According to some commentators, most holiday write-ups these days looks more like market update than anything else. They tend to focus on the retail price of food products and exclude other aspects of such holidays, they contend. In 2011, however, the local food market experienced something unusual and something that came from the highest authority in the country—the price cap.
January 7, 2011. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, accompanied by Melaku Fenta, director general of the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA), and Ahmed Tussa, former state minister of trade, announced arguably the most controversial trade directive in recent times. The trio imposed a price ceiling on a basket of consumer goods. All in all, some 17 consumables fell under the cap. The rationale of including some commodities was lost on the public. Imported palm oil, sugar, beef, soft drink, beer, rice, pasta… were among the commodities whose price was capped by the Ministry of Trade (MoT) directive. The announcement, which coincided with last year’s Christmas, was met with cheers by consumers, while professionals and the business community remained largely skeptical. However, both sentiments proved to be temporary as the cap itself was short-lived; it persisted for a whole of five months with several revisions in between.
Fast forward to 2012 and neither the cap nor its sharp critics are in the fore. However, the same cannot be said of the impact of the cap. In fact, according to some consumers, the cap days left an indelible mark on those 17 commodities and/or the commodity market of the country at large. A cursory assessment of price data, especially of beef, palm oil, sugar and soft drinks, shows that the cap did not achieve a slow-down of price escalation at all. For instance, the price of palm oil, which had soared to 36 birr/liter, was brought down to 16 birr/liter by the directive (though it was later revised upward to 21 birr/liter) while one year after, the price appears to have bounded back to 28 birr/liter. The price of beef, which had gone up as high as 90 birr/kilo before the cap, was lowered to 52 birr/kilo only to steadily rise and reach 80 to 120 birr/kilo depending on the location of the butchers. The price of soft drinks and beer was also fixed by the cap, though this was a highly controversial measure. Soft drinks were fixed at 4.20 birr, 0.80 cents down from their previous high, while beer was cut from 10.00 to 7.10 birr. One year after, beer is back to its pre-cap days. Soft drinks, however, have surpassed even the pre-cap price to reach 6.00 birr.
A year from its introduction, the cap is still plagued by a host of shortcomings; the price of palm oil was revised twice and set at a barely realistic figure. The 16.50 birr/liter original price for palm oil was later revised to 18 birr and finally to 21 birr. However, even taking the 21 birr/ liter price, since the cap the price of palm oil in the market has surged by 33 percent. The price of beef, however, appears to have risen the most. Since cap days, a 90-percent plus surge has been observed in beef prices. In general, the prices of the assortment of commodities capped one year ago are far from tumbling from their astronomical highs.
Apart from the commodities whose prices were capped, some of the regular holiday shopping items have also seen sharp price increases this year. According to the price in Kera, one of the largest live animal markets in Addis, an average-sized sheep that fetched 500 birr last Christmas now costs 900 to 1250 birr. But, if it is a well-fattened sheep the price could double. However, one of the salient features of the kera live animal market is the prevalence of brokers and middlemen who dictate the market. As the price of a well-fattened ox can go as high as 12,000 birr, it is quite common to see a number of the brokers in the market. In fact, in kera cattle sales was directly under the control of these brokers. Nevertheless, now that the price for sheep and goat is equally climbing the kera market appears to be taken over by the sheep brokers and middlemen. According to some buyers, they earn a minimum of 100 birr mark up over the actual cost.
The price of chicken, which in most cases is an alternate to sheep for most families, ranges from 130-150 birr, though Elfora, a large poultry farm, sells chickens at a relatively cheaper price (75 birr). Depending on its place of origin and the quality, a kilo of butter costs from 85 birr/kilo to 140 birr/kilo. On average, one kilo of butter, a core ingredient in holiday gourmet, can be bought for 120 birr/kilo. Similarly, cheese and egg - two important ingredients in the Ethiopian holiday delicacies - were sold at 45 to 50 birr/kilo and around 2.20 to 2.90/piece, respectively, in pre-holiday markets. Wheat flour, on the other hand, fetched 1350 birr/quintal.
Pepper, unlike other commodities got cheaper this year, however. The price went down from 1000 birr/ feresula (equivalent to17kg) last year to 700birr/feresula.
