Government enters into agreement with MOAVE to lower bag price of flour and protect Cape Verdean families

The price of a 50-kilogram bag of wheat flour, currently sold by MOAVE, at the cost of 4,600 escudos, will immediately be sold at a value of 4,100 escudos, and with a discount for the bakery industry, the bag will cost 3,936 shields.

This measure, announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Gilberto Silva, during a visit this morning to MOAVE, was the result of cooperation with this bulk wheat import company, through a process of negotiation and institutional articulation between some government departments and this company.

The initiative, according to Gilberto Silva, follows the rise in the price of wheat worldwide and the Minister believes that this was an affordable price to face this international shock.

“We think that we have arrived at an affordable price taking into account the international situation, with a rise in prices worldwide, in which all countries are suffering”, said the Minister, who noted a “trend at an international level for some low”, but this is not yet the case in practice.

That is why, for Gilberto Silva, this measure represents a great advantage for Cape Verdean families since the new price of a bag of wheat flour, upon entering into force immediately, should lower the price of carcass bread, a product foundation for families. A measure, incidentally, that does not depend on Moave or the Government, as in Cape Verde the price of bread is not regulated, but its weight.

“With this measure, we think there are conditions so that there is no escalation in bread prices, an advantage, and that there is free competition in the bakery industry and that based on competition we can have the best prices”, underlines the Minister.

Gilberto Silva also said that the Government will remain attentive to the situation of rising prices and will continue to analyze and intervene where ever necessary so that the country can ensure that the food system as a whole is resilient and is able to cope with this international shock.

The minister also highlighted the importance of this articulation and negotiation between Moave and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, which coordinates food and nutrition security policy in Cape Verde, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance.

It is, he recalled, a company that is part of the Cape Verdean food system insofar as it produces wheat flour based on the milling of imported wheat grain, the only company that imports wheat in bulk.