Poultry, meat prices soar ahead of holy month of Ramadan

[DJKeefy]

The prices of poultry and beef increased madly before the month of Ramadan, as the kilo of poultry increased by LE3 on Thursday to reach LE26 for the live poultry, and LE31 for frozen poultry.

Beef reached LE145 per kilogram for locally produced beef and upwards of LE80 for the imported variety.

Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the kilo of live poultry is sold by retailers at a price ranging between LE35 to LE40, and the frozen variety between LE40 to LE45.

Mohamed El Shafei, Vice President of the Poultry Federation, said that the total poultry produced is about 700,000 birds per day and that the Federation seeks to increase the production to 2.1 million birds per day to meet the needs of citizens during the month of Ramadan.

The Butchers' Devision president Mohamed Wahba said the main reason behind meat price hikes is the lack of a government plan to develop and protect the animal wealth.

Egypt imports 60 percent of its meat needs and produces 40 percent locally, Wahba told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

He called on the government to support local products and solve the problems facing local meat production. He pointed out that shortage in cultivated land is behind the weakness of the domestic production of meat.

Despite the reclamation of large areas of land, encroachment on agricultural land and construction continues, he added.

Wahba called for doubling the size of cultivated land in Egypt.

Egypt currently has about 9 million feddans of cultivated land, which is almost the same size of agriculture land that existed in Egypt under late President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1960 and served only 20 million citizens. Egypt's population is currently 100 million, he pointed out.

Source: http://www.egyptindependent.com//news/p ... th-ramadan

[DJKeefy]

Another hard time for Egyptians, I have no idea how many of them live on the low wages they get
Many prices in the UK are now cheaper than Egypt and most people earn more in a day than many Egyptians earn in a Month.

[newcastle]

Supply & demand at work as usual over Ramadan

Maybe this year's significantly higher prices for all foodstuffs will curb the obscene wastage which characterises the event.

" As per conservative estimates, around 15-25% of all food purchased or prepared during Ramadan find its way to the garbage bin before even being used or consumed. "

http://www.ecomena.org/food-wastes-ramadan/

[DJKeefy]

If the price of meat rises to such high levels then things like the below video happen (slaughtering a donkey) either they have done this because they are hungry or maybe to sell to make some money.

phpBB [video]

[newcastle]

Slaughtering a donkey for meat is pretty unusual in Egypt. Most Egyptians would put that on a par with our Western attitude to, say, eating dogs.

If whoever killed that donkey was intending to sell the meat, they'd have to describe it as something else.

Although perfectly nutritious, and safe (if slaughtered hygienically), domesticated donkey meat is considered haram in islam.

I found watching the police repeatedly slapping the "culprits" more offensive than the thought of a dead donkey being eaten but...hey...this is Egypt.

[Miss scarlett]

Keefy, you mention low wages, and I do appreciate they do not earn much. However, how much for instance do the street cleaners earn? Also teachers, I know they subsidise their earnings with private tuition in the evening, but how much do they roughly earn for the day job, and private work?

I believe people in shops, might not get a daily wage, think they get commission on what they sell? Or staff who work in hotels and restaurants, what can they expect?

I know many are lucky to have jobs at all, but with costs going up for food, and I always think the cost of clothes is very high in Egypt too, especially the ones that display the price in the window, well I just don't know how they manage on what they earn.

[Dusak]

Donkey's years ago I had, unbeknown at the time, donkey meat that had been marinated in red wine. The resulting dish was nice and tasty, although a tad oily/greasy, until I was told what the meat was. This was in Corfu.

[newcastle]

Huge numbers of slaughtered, skinned donkeys found in Monufiya

Looks like skins intended for Chinese market....or the Gulf states where, apparently, sexual stimulants are extracted from skins. Well...you've heard the phrase "hung like a donkey"

http://www.egyptindependent.com/huge-am ... -menoufia/