الخبز في مصر من ازمة عميقة

Egypt was the first country to make bread. Not surprisingly, says Professor Yunan Labib Rizk,
it was also the first country to have bread-related problems.

Bread has gained considerable renown in the history of humankind for being the primary source of nourishment sustaining people. Its reputation has been underlined on various occasions, the most prominent of which was the demonstration that started in Paris on 8 October 1789 and ended in Versailles, the headquarters of King Louis XVI. In this demonstration, a handful of hungry women cried out, pleading for bread. This was the first spark that set alight the French revolution, the largest popular revolt in modern history.
As for Egypt, it is well-known that it was the first country to have bread and it can even be said that it invented this kind of nourishment. It is also well-known that the first appearance of a class of bakers was in Egypt, and as Pharaonic antiquities show, Egyptians had loaves of bread at an early period. The Egyptian Antiquities Department in the British Museum has a piece of real bread that is 5,000 years old, as well as wheat grains that were planted during the summer seasons in the Pharaonic age.
Egyptians are growing worried about a shortage of bread gripping the country, especially with children returning to school.
Newspapers have for days been reporting shortages of bread, which is subsidized by the state. Long lines of customers have formed outside bakeries.
The situation is expected to come to a head on Saturday when summer holidays end and hundreds of thousands of children return to the classroom.
Observers say the problem stems from a national flour shortage caused by a below average wheat harvest, technical problems at mills and higher international wheat prices.
The Egyptian government says it has taken action to solve the problem which started several weeks ago.
"Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak issued directives to increase daily bread production by 10 percent to attain 210 million loaves per day,"
Bread is one of 25 essential food items subsidized by the state. It is supposed to sell for five piasters (less than one cent) a loaf.
An increase in the price in 1977 provoked violent protests that were dubbed the "bread riots."
"It's difficult to find a bakery that sells bread at the government price," and also suspects the loaves are getting smaller as some one said .
The shortage of the round, flat bread was partly "due to the sale of subsidized flour on the black market."
"All the problems in Egyptian society - education, bread, unemployment, population density, or economic - are a result of the population explosion," Mubarak said.
He added that the population had increased by 30 million people since 1981 to reach 70 million people today.