More affordable meat and leftovers for iftar. There will be no new clothes for the children. Nonetheless, the crisis has the potential to bring Muslim communities closer together.
As the holy month of Ramadan begins this week, millions of Muslims worldwide are feeling the effects of inflation.
Food and energy prices have risen as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change-related events.
Countries in the Global South, particularly those in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, where the vast majority of the world’s Muslims live, are also among the hardest hit by price increases and supply shortages.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 349 million people in 79 countries were acutely food insecure in 2022, with more than 140 million requiring assistance; this figure is not expected to change much in 2023. Asia and Africa have the highest proportion of undernourished people.
Food price increases force families to cut back on other goods and services, according to Friederike Greb, an economist at the World Food Programme.
“If you’re poor, you spend more than half your income on food,” Greb explained.
‘People don’t have money anymore,’ says the Middle East.
Aside from global forces, the region’s economies have been harmed by local factors ranging from wars to droughts and other natural disasters.
More than 90% of Syrians live in poverty today, 12 years after the country’s brutal civil war began.
Their cost-of-living crisis is expected to worsen in the aftermath of the February earthquakes that killed over 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria. In Turkey, the inflation rate was 55 percent last month.
In Egypt, where inflation has been rising rapidly and nearly reached 32 percent in February, the government has attempted to intervene to mitigate the effects on the poor.
It opened discounted Ramadan markets in January, nearly three months before the start of the holy month, where food ingredients such as flour, meat, and pasta are sold at up to 30% lower prices than elsewhere.
Nonetheless, food inflation in the Middle East’s most populous country has skyrocketed, reaching 61.8 percent last month.
Once food inflation crosses 15 percent, “that’s going to significantly impact other expenses including shelter, sanitation and transportation”, said Greb.
To read our blog on “How should you spend last 10 days of Ramadan to please Allah,” click here
