Egyptians are fed up with high meat prices and a grassroots campaign of its boycott, called ‘No Meat,’ has gained momentum on social media sites since its first press conference on August 23 in Cairo. One of the campaign’s organizers, political activist Sharif Sairafi said that Egyptians no longer believed in politics and that it was important for the revolutionary youth to rethink their positioning among citizens.

“This campaign defends the rights of the poor without belonging to any political movement,” said Sairafi.

Egyptians are fed up with high meat prices and a grassroots campaign of its boycott, called ‘No Meat,’ has gained momentum on social media sites since its first press conference on August 23 in Cairo. One of the campaign’s organizers, political activist Sharif Sairafi said that Egyptians no longer believed in politics and that it was important for the revolutionary youth to rethink their positioning among citizens.

“This campaign defends the rights of the poor without belonging to any political movement,” said Sairafi.

Meat prices sky-rocketing

Meat prices hit a record high – jumping from 50 Egyptian pounds (US $6.4) per kilogram in the second half of 2014 to 65 Egyptian pounds (US $8.3) in early 2015 and most recently to 85 pounds (about US $10.9).

Sairafi explained that the overwhelming response to the campaign, especially among the middle class, prompted organisers to turn a demand campaign into a civil association called Balaha [without it], and to link up with other related campaigns with a similar vision including ‘Who Loves Egypt.’

The Egyptian government has responded by opening outlets that sell meat at lower prices, especially in poor areas, but Sairafi argued that this was not sufficient. He called for other measures, such as controlling the market, facing greedy butchers by deterrent laws and for the state to enter the market as a competitor.

Subsidized army meat

When Mayada Ali, a housewife in Cairo’s Shubra district first learned of the campaign through her daughter via Facebook, she decided to boycott meat and replaced it with beans and frozen meat, but said that frozen meat was not good.

“The main reason is there is no control over the markets and greedy merchants who exploit citizens’ needs,” she said.

Ali said that the meat provided by the armed forces was fresh and almost half the price found at butchers (35 pounds per kilogram), but there was simply far too small a supply for the large demand in poor areas, she said.

180 pounds for a kilogram of meat

The campaign has quickly found a following in a number of other Egyptian governorates. In Alexandria, meat prices soared, with Eid al-Adha approaching, reaching 180 Egyptian pounds per kilogram (US $23) in Kafr Abdou (wealthy area), and 100 pounds (US $12.8) in popular and middle-class areas like Hadra, Mahatet Masr, Gabriel and Aasafira.

Ahmed Abbas, an accountant, said that meat prices rose because of the upcoming Islamic holiday, Eid al-Adha (on September 23), in which an animal must be “sacrificed”. “Butchers exploit the citizens’ need for sacrifices to raise the price, without caring for poor citizens who would strive a month ago to collect 35 pounds to buy half a kilogram of meat per week, but this is no longer possible with prices at 100 pounds per kilo,” he said.

Abbas emphasized that poor Alexandrians were forced to boycott meat, not to put pressure on butchers, rather because the vast majority of people could not afford to sacrifice a hundred pounds a week to purchase local meat. Instead, they buy meat once a month, or resort to imported meat sold at prices ranging between 30 and 55 pounds (US $3.8 – $7).

However, Abbas claimed that the crisis had another reason, namely the removal of subsidies on water, electricity and gas, which prompted butchers to raise prices. In return, people gave up eating meat to pay the government bills, since “hunger is easier than imprisonment.”

Fodder prices are the reason

Butchers said the main reason behind the crisis is the small-scale breeders, who refrain from raising livestock, fearing the foot and mouth disease (FMD) and Rift Valley fever (RVF), which have recently caused the death of thousands of livestock.

Badr Mohammed, a butcher, said that small ranchers are abandoning livestock breeding due to the loss caused by the death of their animals, the lack of government compensation, and the high fodder prices; all have contributed significantly to the price increases.

Campaign threats

Ahmed Sheikh, the coordinator of Alexandria’s ‘No Meat’ campaign, launched on September 5, pointed out that though the campaign did not receive official coverage, it has witnessed wide participation, which forced butchers in some areas to reduce prices. He explained that the butchers of Cairo Street in Sidi Bishr neighbourhood lowered the prices from 90 to 70 pounds (US $11.5 to $8.9), while in Hadra prices lowered by 60 Egyptian pounds (US $7.7).

But not all butchers succumbed to the demands of the campaign. Sheikh said the campaign had received three threatening letters from major butchers in the governorate. He refused to disclose their names, only saying that the campaign would continue until the price of meat goes down to 50 pounds (US $6.4).

Sheikh denied that fodder prices are the cause of the crisis, and that they had checked global fodder prices and found out that they dropped from 3,800 to 3,300 pounds a ton (US $485 – $422), and the price of barley dropped from 4,600 to 4,200 pounds (US $587 – $536) a ton. “This confirms that the rise in meat prices is unjustified and must be addressed, through the intervention of the Ministry of Supply, which should determine the price of meat and tighten oversight on butcheries. Until this happens, everybody should refrain from eating meat,” he said.

Campaign success in Upper Egypt

In Upper Egypt, the campaign achieved significant outreach, where a number of youth in the Qoussiya and Abou-teij centers adopted the campaign. Hossam Sholkamy, the campaign coordinator in the Qoussiya center in Asyut, said the campaign succeeded by 60%, as the price dropped from 85 to 70-75 pounds. The campaign officials received promises from the armed forces to provide the public with live meat at reasonable prices.

“The campaign was launched from Aswan. I liked the idea and began to promote it in Qoussiya via Facebook on August 4. I also made street posters calling to boycott meat purchase. A considerable number of citizens responded, which impacted the butchers who reduced the prices. The campaign moved from Qoussiya to Abou-teij center without prior coordination,” Sholkamy added.

A working group was formed and banners were printed and hanged in most parts of the city. Some volunteered to talk to people urging them to boycott meat. Among the campaigners was a businessman who bought calves to be slaughtered and sold to residents at 70 pounds per kilogram (US $8.9), to force butchers to reduce their price.

Meat prices are determined in the market

Butchers like Imad Masood think that the solution is not to sell cattle outside the governorate, because cattle transport would increase the costs. He pointed out that if this measure is implemented, the price of meat would drop to 40 pounds.

Butcher Shaaban Kenawy Kirsha suggests the re-opening of the livestock project and fattening stations, banning the slaughter of calves and female cows and allowing import in order to control prices. Abu Zeid Ali Ahmed said the reason of price increases is the lack of cattle, because of the diseases that recently struck the livestock.

Kamal Khalifa, head of Asyut Directorate of Supply attributed the price increases to liberalization where prices are determined in the market, with no compulsory limit by the state. “The fodder and livestock prices are high in the market, so traders are forced to raise the meat prices,” Khalifa said. However, he pointed out that the Directorate of Supply, as a regulator, launches inspections and issues fines against violators who hide prices.