Raw meat becomes a luxury: Addis Ababa boycotts – and butchers push back

What happened

For many in Addis Ababa, raw meat is as much a part of the weekend as bread is of breakfast. But according to the business weekly Addis Fortune, a kilo now costs up to 1,600 birr; almost two years ago the price was still below 1,000 birr. Official meat inflation nationwide stands at 22 percent.

The city administration wants to respond: it is providing consumer cooperatives with an additional 500 million birr or so and plans to target middlemen in the supply chain.

The meat price comes at a time of generally high living costs. Annual inflation was 15.1 percent in August according to the statistics service, and unemployment in the capital stood at 19.1 percent, as The Reporter notes. For rents, the city has capped annual increases on renewed contracts at 11.5 percent.

The mood on the ground

For some families, the weekly meat platter has become a holiday luxury. The frustration has turned into a boycott call on social media which, according to Addis Fortune, is spreading.

Butchers, restaurants and cattle traders feel unfairly singled out. They stress that prices are rising further up the chain: more expensive cattle and feed, higher transport costs, rents and wages. The city is thus split between customers who feel priced out and sellers who feel blamed for costs they do not control.

Economists warn that a boycott alone will achieve little unless trade routes become safer and costs along the supply chain fall. A commentary in The Reporter shows how much pressure everyday life is under overall: a day labourer, street trader or driver who loses a day in an official queue also loses a day's pay.

Voices from the media