The Truth Face | Ibrahim Shglawi The Chaos of Bread Production

It is well known that bread prices in any society are an important indicator of stability and a direct assessment of the state’s ability to protect the lives of its citizens. Therefore, what Khartoum State has been witnessing these days of chaos and disruption in the production and sale of bread reveals a failure in managing the war economy and in the relationship between the state and the market.

Over the past days, the bread market has entered a strange state of chaos. One thousand pounds buys four loaves in some bakeries, three in others, and two in another, with variations in weight and quality, as well as in the type of improvers used. When a unified standard and effective oversight disappear, the citizen is left facing a market in which they do not know what they are buying or by what standard what they receive is determined.

This chaos cannot be separated from the economic crisis. The decline of the Sudanese pound and the rise in foreign currency prices have directly affected flour and production inputs. According to what bakeries have announced, the price of a sack of flour has risen from 77,000 pounds to 108,000 pounds, in addition to increases in oil, yeast, and wages. These are pressures that cannot be ignored, but they do not mean that the citizen should be the weakest link.

The Khartoum State Government has responded by exempting bakeries from fees until the end of the year, in return for maintaining the previous prices, in addition to forming committees to address the flow of flour and review policies related to its prices. This is an important step, but it is insufficient unless the roots of the disruption in production, distribution, and pricing are addressed.

But the root of the problem goes beyond fee exemptions or price stabilization. The crisis reveals, unfortunately, the limitations of managing problems through temporary initiatives. Whenever discounted markets are launched, prices rise, and then the crisis returns after a period. Bread is often treated as an urgent problem requiring a temporary settlement, rather than as part of a food and economic security system. Here lies the difference between crisis management and managing a developmental economy for the sake of stability.

Discounted markets can provide important support, just as reducing the role of intermediaries and linking producers with consumers is a step worthy of appreciation. However, these measures lose their impact when they do not reach citizens, or when transportation costs and speculation consume the difference that citizens are supposed to benefit from. Therefore, initiatives should not become a substitute for economic policy.

A war economy cannot be managed according to the rules of a normal economy. Bread, flour, and other strategic commodities require intervention that balances production, market stability, and citizens’ purchasing power. What is required is not to exclude the private sector, but to restore the state’s role in regulating the market, preventing monopolies and fraud, and protecting commodities. This requires integrated management of the production chain, from securing wheat and flour to milling and distribution, along with strict oversight of weights, standards, and quality, so that the citizen’s loaf does not become hostage to market chaos.

The crisis also requires the restoration of basic productive capacities, foremost among them automated bakeries, while granting the Cooperative Economic Corporation, or any other entity, a direct role in establishing bakeries distributed throughout the state and its localities. The existence of a state productive arm in a strategic commodity such as bread does not mean excluding the private sector; rather, it guarantees a minimum level of supply and gives the state a genuine capacity to regulate the market. Food security is part of national security, and restoring the state is completed by possessing the necessary production tools and protecting citizens from market chaos.

A capable state does not merely announce measures when the crisis intensifies; rather, it builds a system that prevents the crisis from turning into chaos. It does not fight the producer, but prevents weak oversight from becoming a burden paid by the consumer. It does not abolish the market, but sets limits for it when it comes to people’s livelihoods and the security of society.

The chaos of bread production, according to #The_Truth_Face, is not merely a market failure, but an indicator of a failure in the state’s management of strategic commodities. In a war economy, citizens’ basic sustenance must not be left to the logic of scarcity and speculation. Restoring the state’s authority begins with controlling the decisions of production and distribution and regulating the market. Bread is not an ordinary commodity, and whoever is unable to secure the loaf is, by necessity, unable to protect stability and restore security.

Wishing you continued health and well-being.

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

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