Rising Food Costs Leave Algerian Families Struggling During Ramadan

Families in Algeria are finding it increasingly difficult to afford traditional Ramadan meals as food prices continue to climb. Despite government promises of economic relief and food imports, many residents are turning to charity kitchens to break their fast during the holy month.

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — During the sacred month of Ramadan, Algerian families face a challenging reality: the traditional evening meals that break the daily fast are becoming too expensive for many to afford.

While Ramadan holds deep spiritual meaning for Muslims worldwide, it also traditionally brings families together around tables filled with abundant, diverse foods after the evening call to prayer signals the end of each day’s fast.

However, these ceremonial meals now carry price tags that many Algerians cannot manage, as their buying power has weakened over recent years. This economic decline has occurred despite the country’s substantial oil and natural gas resources, forcing increasing numbers of citizens into poverty.

Grocery costs have skyrocketed, and marketplace disputes sometimes turn violent.

Following massive nationwide demonstrations in 2019 that shook Algeria, government officials grew worried about potential social upheaval and made commitments to provide economic assistance.

“Back in the 1970s, our wages weren’t high, but we could prepare for Ramadan and buy fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables,” Ahmed Messai, a former railroad employee, shared with The Associated Press while shopping at the Clauzel market in downtown Algiers.

The market’s main level serves as the pulse of business activity in Algeria’s capital city, where vendor booths overflow with attractively arranged fruits and vegetables.

However, as Ramadan drew near, costs increased sharply.

One elderly woman, wrapped in her customary white haik robe, complained about onion prices jumping from 45 dinars per kilogram to 100 dinars (35 cents to 77 cents) within just two days. She angrily confronted a stoic merchant who explained his profit requirements to her. Carrots now cost 150 dinars per kilogram, bell peppers 200 dinars, and green beans 550 dinars.

The woman left with an empty shopping basket.

Algeria’s leadership has attempted to prosecute Ramadan price manipulators, with minimal success. During a recent special cabinet meeting focused on Ramadan food availability, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared, “all conditions must be guaranteed to allow citizens to spend the holy month in perfect peace and without worry.”

His commitments included government purchases of 144,000 sheep and 46,000 cattle to increase meat availability for Ramadan dining. Premium local lamb from Algeria’s High Plateaus, prized for its taste and fragrance, along with young beef from the Kabyle mountains, have become unaffordable even for middle-class workers.

Community organizations provide crucial support for financially strained families during Ramadan. Restaurant proprietors convert their businesses into charitable dining halls or “mercy restaurants” offering complimentary meals.

“It’s a good mechanism for solidarity and civic awareness,” explained academic Hocine Zairar, “but the proliferation of this type of restaurant says something serious about our society: how poverty is gaining ground in our country.”

The Algerian Red Crescent operates one of Algiers’ most extensive mercy restaurant programs across multiple neighborhoods. Diners occupy long table rows inside a massive tent erected in a downtown plaza to end their daily fast. “The atmosphere is family-friendly and we serve up to 800 meals a day,” explained Nour el-Houda Remdani, an event coordinator, while moving among the rows of people receiving the free food.

These charitable restaurants previously served mainly single individuals, homeless people, or travelers. However, in recent years, complete families now depend on these temporary dining facilities.

The president has acknowledged significant economic changes in recent years.

“The middle class, once the pride of Algeria, is now being decimated by the crisis,” Tebboune stated during a television interview on Algerian media earlier this month.

Tebboune has also committed to raising the minimum wage from 20,000 to 24,000 dinars, boosting retirement payments by 5 to 10 percent, and increasing jobless benefits for college graduates from 15,000 to 18,000 dinars.

Algeria’s typical income equals 42,800 dinars, roughly $330 using official currency rates, and under $235 on unofficial markets.

Professor Redouane Boudjema from Algiers’ Institute of Journalism described the government’s Ramadan assistance programs as attempts to maintain “social peace” and “absorb political anger stemming from restrictions on civil and trade union freedoms.”