Food imports in Egypt account for more than 40 percent of the calories consumed by Egyptians (FAO), writes CNN Business (Arabic) in a report on the food crisis in the country.
What is known is that Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world, and it used to import about 85 percent of this commodity from Russia and Ukraine before the war. Since the Russia-Ukraine war, food prices for imports have dramatically increased, leaving Egyptians and others facing trade shocks. According to data from the International Food Policy Research Institute, supply disruptions, rising world market prices, and other factors triggered by the war have led to a sharp rise in domestic food price inflation.
The sharp increase in the prices of basic consumer goods forced many families to reduce their consumption of some nutritious, unsubsidized foods, while the consumption of subsidized foods was not affected, according to that same report from IFPRI.
The research study from IFPRI found some households increased their consumption of starches to reduce their spending, such as potatoes (21 percent) and unsubsidized pasta (14 percent), while consumption of major subsidized foods such as bread, sugar, and oil remained unchanged.
To delve deeper into the findings of the IFPRI study, click here.