An Observer article, 30 July, quotes the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which has data that shows that 2.3 million low-income families have reported taking out loans or using credit to pay essential bills during the ongoing capitalist cost of living crisis. With another expected interest rate rise possibly in the offing there are concerns about ‘a “time bomb of debt” among poorer households’.

Are we about to see another plethora of advertisements through various outlets for the loan companies whose interest rates run into three or four figures?

The article says that, ‘Nearly 6 million low-income families have unsecured debt, such as credit cards, overdrafts and personal loans from banks, credit unions and payday lenders. In May this year, they owed £14.2bn in total. Interest on this debt was £3.9bn, equivalent to about £675 a year per family’.

Further, ‘Using credit to pay bills is not preventing households from falling behind with payments. Three-quarters report arrears with at least one household bill or lending commitment, with 44% in arrears with three or more bills. Meanwhile 2.8 million low-income households said they had been refused a loan between May 2021 and May 2023’.

Those running charities aiming to help, one way or another, those burdened down with overwhelming debt problems ought to get themselves off to SpecSavers because the same myopic ‘solutions,’ which are not long term solutions, are being trotted out.

StepChange, a debt charity says, ‘ “It is crucial the government continues to uprate benefits with inflation and looks for ways to increase income for the most vulnerable households, for example by stopping unaffordable deductions from universal credit to repay government debts.” ‘

The government said, ‘ “We know people are struggling with rising prices, which is why we are delivering support worth on average £3,300 per household, (citation needed) uprating benefits in line with inflation and have increased the national living wage.

“We have invested a record £90m to support free debt advice in England and our Breathing Space scheme gives those facing financial difficulties space to receive debt advice, without pressure from creditors or mounting debts.

“Deductions help to protect claimants from enforcement actions such as eviction, make sure priority debts like child maintenance are addressed and recover money when overpayments are made.”’

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/30/millions-of-uk-families-using-credit-cards-and-loans-to-pay-basic-bills

For those whose lives are desolated by the nature of capitalism there are other costs which add to the existing pressures: mental health issues, damaged relationships, and removal of the ability to live life to its fullest.

As the blessed Margaret Thatcher once incorrectly remark, there is no alternative. But there is. It’s Socialism, a money-free, class-free society free access to goods and services will consign this blight to the dustbin of history forever.

From a foreign news source, a report about the hardships the Dutch continue to suffer as energy utility consumer costs continue to rise. What’s going to happen when winter comes and the option to use as little energy as possible is dramatically reduced by the need not to freeze to death?

‘Household energy bills in the Netherlands are up drastically from last year, despite government subsidies and a consumer price cap.

The average gas and electricity bill rocketed by 37% in June compared to the same month of last year, data released last week by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) revealed. The increase will add €630 ($702) to annual household energy costs, bringing the average bill to €2,320 ($2,586) per year, compared to €1,691 last June.

Wholesale energy prices across the EU rose dramatically last year as Russian supplies shrank, following sanctions resulting from the Ukraine conflict.

Last October, the Dutch government announced a relief package of €23.5 billion to compensate for the rise in energy tariffs. The country has also introduced a consumer price cap, amounting to €1.45 per cubic meter of gas and €0.4 per kilowatt hour of electricity.

However, even with state aid, energy bills in the country are still higher than last June, partly due to increased taxes, the NL Times news outlet noted. The Dutch government has provided fewer tax discounts on energy, while a temporary reduction in the VAT rate has also been reversed.

Higher prices have forced Dutch families to slash energy consumption, taking an average of €40 off annual bills for gas and electricity, according to CBS.

Economists warn that the average household energy bill in the Netherlands may reach €2,500 once the state-imposed price cap expires in 2024.’

From the BBC News website: ‘The number of rough sleepers in London has risen by more than a fifth in the past year, the latest figures show.’

The BBC quotes a report by the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain) which says that people sleeping rough for the first time rose by more than twenty five percent.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66030583

There are lots of statistics given: ‘figures, released in a report commissioned and funded by the Greater London Authority (GLA), found that 10,053 people were seen sleeping on the streets between April 2022 and March 2023.

This figure was up by almost 21% from 8,329 in the same period a year before. First time rough sleepers in London rose to 6,391 – an almost 26% rise compared with 5,091 from the same period in 2021/22… some 2,084 people had been seen rough sleeping for at least two consecutive years.

After more than a year without sleeping rough, 1,578 people returned to the streets…the number of people in this situation increased by almost a third (31%) from 1,205 the previous year.’

There is recognition that this is an unacceptable situation; ‘Homelessness charity St Mungo’s branded it a “tragic reflection” of the cost-of-living crisis and lack of affordable housing’. The Mayor of London described the rise as “extremely alarming”’.

Although the sincerity to alleviate and end this dire situation for all the individuals forced to live on the streets is accepted the ‘solutions’, as is too often the case within capitalism are of the sticking plaster variety treating the effect not the cause.

The Mayor of London: ‘despite previous progress, “extraordinary financial pressures are putting the poorest Londoners at growing risk of homelessness”. His solution, ‘ he would like to be handed powers from the government to bring in rent controls’. Further, ‘ministers must “get a grip on the cost-of-living crisis and restore the social security safety net which stops people becoming trapped in a cycle of homelessness”’. And, “They (the government) must also invest in new council and genuinely affordable homes and restore London Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of market rents”’.

A government commitment had previously been made to end rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament.

The CEO of St Mungo’s underlined some of the issues which contributed toward homelessness: “The shrinking supply of affordable homes in the private rented sector, and the chronic undersupply of social housing, means people are struggling to find and keep somewhere to live… without “immediate intervention, the number of people sleeping rough will continue to rise”.

It’s perhaps too much to ask that capitalism would be recognised as the underlying cause.

Does this Blog protesteth too much? Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Perhaps not on a par with Henry V’s Saint Crispin Day speech but stepping into the breech to eliminate the slay the dragon of homelessness (apologies for mixed metaphors. Ed.) comes Prince William to the rescue. Big sigh of relief. We can now all sleep safely in our beds. Well not if you’re homeless you can’t.

‘It’s a sad reality that in 2023 homelessness still exists. That is why Prince William and The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales have launched Homewards: a transformative five-year, locally led programme that will aim to demonstrate that together it’s possible to end homelessness – making it rare, brief and unrepeated’.

https://homewards.org.uk/

The Royal family own nineteen properties.

https://www.countryliving.com/uk/homes-interiors/property/a29509536/royal-family-properties/

There does not seem to be a town, village or smaller area anywhere in the UK where homeless individuals will not now be found. Socialists are just as repulsed by this social ill as anyone.

Our solution is not more sticking plaster but a maddeningly simple one – abolish capitalism and replace it with a social system where goods and services are produced for use, not profit.

Asda’s profit margins on fuel have tripled since before the pandemic, according to the competition regulator at a bad-tempered parliamentary hearing where the supermarket chain’s co-owner repeatedly refused to explain its pricing strategy.

Mohsin Issa declined to answer multiple questions on whether Asda had increased its profit margins on fuel since its takeover in 2021, prompting MPs on the business select committee to become increasingly furious as the retailer insisted it had not changed its strategy.

Petrol has become a lightning rod for concerns about the rising cost of living as soaring inflation on food, energy and other everyday essentials has squeezed household budgets.

Supermarkets are under the spotlight with the CMA also set to report on whether they have been banking additional profits on groceries – so called ‘greedflation’.

Jonathan Gullis, an MP on the committee, said on Wednesday that “people were being ripped off at the pump” at a time when the cost of living was “already forcing a squeeze at the till from supermarkets”. He said that only when the competition watchdog effectively “named and shamed” what was happening that “suddenly supermarkets magically managed to find a way to take 6p per litre off their costs”.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a report this month saying drivers were paying more for petrol and diesel than before the Covid pandemic because of “weakened” competition.

The CMA told the committee there had been a “significant change” in the supermarket’s pricing approach after its £6.8 billion takeover by the billionaire Issa brothers and their private equity partner in 2021. Asda is now set to buy the UK arm of the Issas’ EG Group petrol forecourts business for £2.27bn, tightening its grip at the pump.

Darren Jones, the chairman of the committee, said a whistleblower had told him that under Asda’s former owner Walmart, the retailer had aimed to be at least 1p per litre cheaper than its nearest rival but the new owners had reduced that target to just 0.1p.

In faltering words, a quietly-spoken Issa refused to confirm whether that was the case, saying there were many elements that contributed to decisions on fuel pricing.

Before Issa gave evidence, Dan Turnbull, the director of the CMA, told the committee that the chain had stuck with its strategy of being price leader but had altered course on two other aspects – increasing profit margins and to “deliberately feather” prices – or to take more time to react to drops in the wholesale price of fuel. He said this was particularly the case on diesel where there had been a lot of volatility in prices.

“We found that between 2021 and 2023 they significantly increased their internal fuel margin targets on a pence per litre basis, and indeed by 2023 those pence per litre targets were three times what they’d been in 2019,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/19/asdas-profit-margins-at-the-pump-have-trebled-mps-told

Kenyans are experiencing the effects of both capitalism and the futility of trusting in ‘leaders’. The soaring cost of living has led to protests with extreme violence resulting, according to the United Nations human Rights Office, in protesters deaths and injuries. To protect its power, and those of the asset owning class, the State will always initially resort to those members of the working class who have undertaken to defend bourgeoisie interests even to the extent of beating and shooting fellow workers.

‘Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has called for three days of anti-government protests starting on Wednesday.

The latest demonstrations are against tax hikes and follow two previous sets of protests this year against the soaring cost of living in East Africa’s economic hub and alleged malpractice in last year’s presidential election, which Odinga lost.

The new taxes were to take effect on July 1, but a Nairobi court halted their implementation pending further legal proceedings. Still, a tax increase on petroleum products was imposed, increasing fuel costs.

Odinga said more protests could be held after this week.

What are the latest protests about?

Odinga announced the protests on June 14 against a new finance bill, which introduced a 1.5 percent housing levy, a 16 percent tax on petroleum products and a 16 percent value-added tax (VAT) on money that policyholders receive as compensation from insurance companies.

“That finance bill will be the last nail in the coffin,” Odinga told his supporters. “If it is passed, it will make Kenyans slaves of paying taxes. …When they pass that bill, that will be the trumpet call. Will you be ready?”

The bill was signed into law on June 26.

On July 10, Kenya’s High Court extended an order barring Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u from implementing it.

The government mostly obeyed the ruling except for the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, which increased fuel prices, triggering an increase in public transport costs.

The price increases are from 182.04 shillings ($1.29) to 195.53 shillings ($1.38) per litre of petrol, 164.28 shillings ($1.16) to 176.67 shillings ($1.25) for a litre of diesel and from 161.48 shillings ($1.14) to 173.44 shillings ($1.22) per litre of kerosene.

What is the finance act about? 

During the presidential campaign,the eventual winner, William Ruto, promised to reduce the cost of living and positioned himself as a poor “hustler” eager to wrest power away from the ruling dynasties that President Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga, sons of independent Kenya’s first president and vice president, represented. The younger Kenyatta endorsed the younger Odinga rather than his deputy, but Ruto was declared the winner and was sworn into office in September. President Ruto inherited an enormous government debt. At the time Kenyatta took office in 2013, it stood at 1.79 trillion shillings ($13bn). By the time Kenyatta left office, it had ballooned to 8.7 trillion shillings ($61bn).

Ruto then removed fuel subsidies, leading to a spike in the prices of basic commodities like bread and maize flour, which are directly affected by the cost of energy and transport.“In addition to being very costly, consumption subsidy interventions are prone to abuse, they distort markets and create uncertainty, including artificial shortages of the very products being subsidised,” he said in his inauguration speech.

New taxes followed. In addition to the housing levy, petroleum products tax and insurance compensation tax, digital assets taxes were also introduced. The government also imposed a 3 percent levy on transfer charges applied during the exchange of assets that cover non-fungible tokens (NFTs), cryptocurrencies, and digital currencies.

The finance act also introduced a 15 percent withholding tax for digital content creators, a 35 percent tax for people earning above 500,000 shillings ($3,536) annually and the VAT on petroleum products was increased from 8 percent to 16 percent.

According to economists, the law will increase tax revenues collected from high-income earners while shrinking individual net income for low-income earners because of increased tax burdens.

What have the effects of the protests been?

According to a statement by a spokesman for the United Nations Human Rights Office, up to 23 people were killed by the police and dozens were injured in demonstrations in the past week. A couple of opposition members were also arrested.

“The UN is very concerned by the widespread violence and allegations of disproportionate use of force, including the use of firearms by the police during protests in Kenya,” Jeremy Laurence said. “We call for prompt, thorough, independent and transparent investigations into the deaths and injuries.

”What happens next? 

Thousands of opposition supporters have protested in Nairobi and a number of other cities on back-to-back Mondays and Thursdays despite a strong pushback from law enforcement, so massive numbers are expected for the protests this week’.

https://www.aljazeeracom/news/2023/7/18/kenya-braces-for-3-days-of-anti-govt-protest-all-the-details

‘The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilisation. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls, with which it forces the barbarians’ intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate. It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilisation into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image’. Manifesto of the Communist Party.

China purports to be communist. Mao Zedong declared China a ‘communist’ state on 1st October, 1949. China was then, not communist but a state capitalist society. ‘The change from state capitalism to a mixed state and private system may have been started by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, but the idea of China being part of the global economy did not originate with Deng. As Mao Zedong is reported to have told a US diplomat in 1945: ‘China needs to build up light industries to supply her own market and raise the living standards of her own people. Eventually she can supply these goods to other countries in the Far East. To help pay for this foreign trade and investment, she has raw materials and agricultural products. America is not only the most suitable country to assist this economic development of China: she is also the only country fully able to participate’, Socialist Standard July 2017. ‘

The piece below, taken from a Time article entitled: ‘China’s Solution to Inequality? Cracking Down on Displays of Wealth and Poverty’, demonstrates the inequality that permeates Chines society. It would seem to show that young people in particular are badly served in a society exhibiting many capitalistic traits.

‘In recent weeks, senior Chinese officials held urgent meetings with business leaders to discuss revitalizing the economy. The country’s youth unemployment rate has climbed to a record 20.4% in April, and then to 20.8% in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. (When officials revealed that they considered anyone working at least an hour a week to be employed, speculation abounded online that the real unemployment rate is in fact much higher.)

This has come as a rude awakening for millions of Chinese young adults, who have long been told that studying hard would come with the reward of financial stability. In response, Chinese authorities have urged them to swallow their pride and accept lower-end jobs—a proposition that has left many feeling betrayed.

“In a context like today’s China, the wealth gap is so big that young people from an average family background realize that no matter how hard they try they can never reach that kind of wealth. So they just stop trying,” says Huang. ( Tianlei Huang, the China Program coordinator at the Peterson Institute for International Economics).

China’s Gini coefficient, which measures inequality, has decreased significantly since the 2000s, but continues to hover above 0.46, which by international standards signals a high level of income inequality.

“The showing off of wealth among wealthy people, especially those who work in the government and state companies, is like adding oil to fire,” says Shan. “It just reveals the hard truth of how unequal the society is.”’.

(Shan Wei, a senior research fellow of Chinese politics at the National University of Singapore).

More at link.

https://time.com/6289559/china-inequality-wealth-flaunting-common-prosperity/

Inequality where ever it is found in the world under the present system will only be abolished when capitalism is abolished and is replaced by real socialism.

‘

Namibia is a a country in Southern Africa. Its population is over two million eight hundred thousand. Twenty six per cent of its population live in extreme poverty.

 The most deprivation occurs in the the rural areas.

https://worldpoverty.io/ma

A report in the Namibian would appear to indicate that almost half of Namibia’s population are living in poverty or extreme poverty.

‘Almost half of the country’s population are faced with poverty, says prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. She was speaking at the launch of the delayed sixth National Development Plan (NDP6) by the National Planning Commission (NPC).

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the government had reduced poverty from 38% to about 18%, however, matters have since worsened.

“If you look at the new formula to calculate poverty, close to 50% of the population is living under poverty,” she said. Since 2016, the country experienced a macro-economic deterioration which exposed Namibia’s vulnerability to external shocks, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said.

“These had a negative impact on our poverty and inequality. In fact, the gains we made in reducing poverty were almost completely wiped out,” she said.

A month ago, The Namibian reported that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said 43% of the country’s population are experiencing multidimensional poverty.

According to the UNFPA 2022 annual report, the Gini coefficient index shows that income inequality in Namibia stands at 57,2%.

The Gini index is a summary measure of income inequality, which incorporates the detailed shared data into a single statistic, summarising the dispersion of income across the entire income distribution.

The report indicates that the unemployment rate stands at 33,4%, with youths aged 15-34 taking up 46,1%, while women take up 48,5%.

The report further indicates that 46% of households are female-headed, while 41% are male-headed.

At that time, economic analyst Arney Tjaronda told The Namibian these figures are not surprising, as the cost of living has drastically increased while salaries remain low.

He said most concerning is the high unemployment rate in the country, and a job market that is unable to absorb the high number of graduates’.

https://www.namibian.com.na/nearly-50-of-population-living-in-poverty-says-pm/

An unemployment rate of over a third with young people and women being affected the most means that many Nambians are struggling under capitalism.

The World Bank notes: ‘Economic advantage remains in the hands of a relatively small segment of the population, and significant inequality continues. This lack of inclusiveness and society’s vast disparities have led to a dual economy—a highly developed modern sector, co-existing with an informal subsistence-oriented one’.

‘Namibia ranks as one of the world’s most unequal countries. Its Gini coefficient of 59.1 in 2015 was second only to South Africa. Geographical disparities in both economic opportunities and access to services are large and widening. High levels of inequality result in starkly different poverty rates across different groups, including by age and gender’.

‘Due to consistently negative per capita GDP growth since 2016, and the negative impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods, poverty rates are projected to have increased. Typically, female-headed households, less educated, larger families, children and the elderly, and labourers in subsistence farming, are particularly prone to poverty.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/namibia/overview

Capitalism is global. Capitalism is the cause of such misery. Capitalism is not the solution. Socialism is.

‘.

‘Afghanistan’s supreme leader said Sunday the country’s women were being saved from “traditional oppressions” by the adoption of Islamic governance and their status as “free and dignified human beings” restored.

In a statement marking this week’s Eid al-Adha holiday, Hibatullah Akhundzada — who rarely appears in public and rules by decree from the Taliban’s birthplace in Kandahar — said steps had been taken to provide women with a “comfortable and prosperous life according to Islamic Sharia”.

The United Nations expressed “deep concern” last week that women were being deprived of their rights under Afghanistan’s Taliban government and warned of systematic gender apartheid.

Since returning to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have stopped girls and women from attending high school or university, banned them from parks, gyms and public baths, and ordered them to cover up when leaving home.

They have also barred them from working for the UN or NGOs, while most female government employees have been dismissed from their jobs or are being paid to stay at home.

However, Akhundzada said “necessary steps have been taken for the betterment of women as half of the society”.

“All institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance and other rights,” his statement read.

Akhundzada said a six-point decree issued in December 2021 guaranteed women their rights.

Among other things, the decree outlawed forced marriages and enshrined the right to inheritance and divorce.

“The negative aspects of the past 20-year occupation related to women’s hijab and misguidance will end soon,” Akhundzada said.

A report to the UN’s Human Rights Council last week by Richard Bennett, the special rapporteur for Afghanistan, said the plight of women and girls in the country “was among the worst in the world”.

“Grave, systematic and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls is at the heart of Taliban ideology and rule, which also gives rise to concerns that they may be responsible for gender apartheid,” Bennett said.

UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif added: “Over the past 22 months, every aspect of women’s and girls’ lives has been restricted.”

“They are discriminated against in every way.”

Despite his rare public appearances, Akhundzada has regularly issued lengthy “state-of-the-nation”-style statements ahead of important Muslim festivals and holidays.

“At the national level, the independence of Afghanistan has been restored once again,” he said.

He praised Afghanistan’s economic resilience, efforts to eradicate poppy cultivation, and the improvement in national security.

“It is our shared responsibility to protect and serve our Islamic system,” he said.

“The current system is the result of the sacrifices of thousands of mujahideen. Let’s stand by each other, eliminate conspiracies, value security and prosperity and work together for its further enhancement.”’.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/afghan-supreme-leader-says-women-084842660.html?guccounter=1

Hail the Daily Mail, the workers friend! Just kidding.

A piece in the MailOnline joyously proclaims how, following their ‘experts’ advice, a family was able to cut their food bill by a third. That’s now down to approximately six thousand pounds a year down from nine thousand pounds a year

The piece does give examples from various supermarkets of the hardly believable increases in some of their commodities.. Three items the Mail highlights have had a price increase of 175, 143, and 120 per cent.

Instead of editorializing about the the iniquities of a social system that promotes such greedflation the Mail prefers to pat itself on the back by offering advice on how to spend an inordinate amount of time in developing ‘new shopping skills’. Apologies, forgot that the Daily Mail is owned by Jonathan Harmsworth, Viscount Rothermere.

Look out for the next article on how to save on Champagne, caviar and minions who do all the heavy graft.

The family in the article do note that before taking part in this experiment their food bill had increased by seventy per cent despite already being careful shoppers.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12308441/How-slash-weekly-shop-Family-reveals-new-shopping-skills-save-households-thousands-pounds-amid-soaring-costs.html

Chicken is a versatile food that can provide a number of varied meals.

Even non-animal activists are probably aware that the supermarket cost is lower than a that of a chicken bought from a local butcher because of intensive factory farming.

Vegans and vegetarians are likely to point a ‘told you so’ finger at the news that now even chicken may not be safe to eat.

‘A major meat supplier to UK supermarkets is sourcing chickens dosed with antibiotics linked to the spread of deadly superbugs, raising the risk of future outbreaks of life-threatening disease, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism can reveal.

The Polish meat giant SuperDrob is sourcing chicken from factory farms that use medicines classified as “critically important” to human health, despite the grave risk this poses to consumers. SuperDrob sells frozen poultry products to Lidl, Asda and Iceland.

The company was linked to a fatal salmonella outbreak in 2020 – which TBIJ, the Guardian and ITV can now reveal involved bacteria resistant to multiple drugs – and there were at least 15 salmonella contaminations linked to SuperDrob poultry in the 18 months that followed.

Bacteria such as salmonella can easily spread on poultry farms, particularly where there are unhygienic or overcrowded conditions. The use of antibiotics on farms can enable potentially lethal bacteria to develop resistance, meaning the drugs will no longer work to treat infections. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria – known as “superbugs” – are a growing threat to human health, leading to an estimated 1.2 million deaths globally in 2019.

To reduce the risk of superbug outbreaks, EU legislation tightened up the use of antibiotics on farms as of last year. Yet the use of drugs critical for human health on farms in Poland, Europe’s biggest producer of poultry meat, has soared in recent years.

The country has accounted for more than half of serious salmonella contaminations involving meat originating in the EU since 2020. SuperDrob is one of Poland’s leading poultry producers and more than 50% of its revenue is from exports.

In recent years, sales of a class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, which are often used to treat serious salmonella infections, have increased by more than 70% in the country. Data shows even larger increases in the sales of colistin, a last-resort drug used to treat serious infections that have not responded to other medicines. Both are classified by the World Health Organization as critically important for human health.

More at link.

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-06-20/polish-meat-giant-supplied-superbug-infected-chicken-to-uk-shelves

For socialists the solution to the problem of more and more expensive food, putting many necessities out of the reach of many, is a straightforward one.

It is the replacement of capitalism, a profit-based social system by socialism, a money-free social system where food , and other life essentials, is produced for use, not profit. How hungry are you for that?

Nigerians experienced an almost twenty five per cent increase in their food bills in May.

Following on here from a post on poverty in Nigeria, 5 July, it is now reported that:

‘A state of emergency has been declared in Nigeria as a result of food shortages and surging prices, with the country’s government announcing a range of measures to address the crisis.

On Thursday, it was announced that fertilizers and grains will “immediately” be released to farmers, and 500,000 hectares of farmland and river basins will be activated for year-round farming.

The move will also expand the central bank’s role in financing the agricultural value chain.

“We declared a state of emergency and unveiled a comprehensive intervention plan on food security, affordability, and sustainability, taking decisive action to tackle food inflation,” President Bola Tinubu said on Twitter.

Tinubu emphasized that the goal of the intervention was to promote agriculture and increase job creation, pledging that “no one will be left behind” in his government’s efforts to ensure “affordable, plentiful food.”

Attahiru Bafarawa, a former governor of Nigeria’s Sokoto State, had warned earlier this month about banditry in the country’s north, saying it threatens food security and was a “serious disaster.”

Africa’s largest economy has seen a surge in the cost of food and transportation due to the president’s removal of fuel subsidies and sweeping exchange-rate reform since May.

In a statement on Thursday, government spokesperson Dele Alake said “savings from the fuel subsidy removal” would be directed at revamping the agricultural sector.

A National Commodity Board will be established and charged with reviewing food prices and maintaining a “strategic food reserve that will be used as a price stabilization mechanism for critical grains and other food items,” Alake said.

The cost of food in Nigeria had increased by 24.82% in May compared to the same time last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It explained that the year-on-year increase in food inflation was caused, among other things, by price hikes in oil, yam, bread, cereals, and fish.’

We will keep on saying it; the solution is socialism.