The price of food and the Colombians' personal economy have been affected by the rising dollar, the phenomenon of El Niño, and the structural problem of the last decades as the country lacks crops enabling it to ensure its food sovereignty.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, even though most of the food in the country has had stable price variations, between December 1 and December 20 some domestically produced foods, such as plums, limes, Lebrija mandarins, and guyaba pears, among others, increased by more than 45%.
In contrast, imported products, such as peaches, red apples, or refined sugar have not had variations of over 20%. It's also worth keeping in mind that food imports have increasingly decreased for 3 consecutive months.
As a result, the Minister of Agriculture, Aurelio Iragorri Valencia and the director of Corabastos, Mauricio Parra, announced an agreement between the national government and the main wholesale center in the country to curb the rise in prices food and stop speculation and hoarding.
According to the head of the agricultural portfolio, the agreement ensures the country's food security and seeks to maintain stability in the prices of food products that make up the basket during the end of the year holidays and early 2016.
To achieve this, the players from the traditional supply and marketing chains were summoned to demonstrate their cooperation and to endorse the will to maintain and stabilize prices of fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, eggs, grains and processed products up to January 20, 2016.
"The Ministry of Agriculture has monitored food production and the effects that El Nino phenomenon has had on it. In general, the products have had normal price fluctuations, but we must acknowledge that some crops were affected by the hot weather. Overall, we have not had food shortages so we ask producers and marketers not to speculate," he said.
What is the deal?
Traders may fix the self-regulation prices in a visible place at the markets so that buyers and consumers have access to verify them.
Consumers will be able to identify the allied establishments through some posters that will be exposed in different stores with the slogan: "This property participates in the fight against speculation and hoarding."
The Minister of Agriculture and the supply centers will monitor the behavior of the products of the social agreement in order to verify compliance. If they detect there is a low supply in any product or its price threatens to exceed the agreed price a contingency plan will be adopted to ensure adequate protection of the agreement.
Not all foods will keep their prices
"We've been working in the defence of farmers to improve their income, specifically on reducing production costs, but at the same time we have to protect consumers so they don't pay more than the food actually costs," said Minister Iragorri.
However, he clarified, some products, such as green peas, beans, creole potato, white onion, tomato, carrot, sugar, and chicken will continue to be expensive because of a low supply, the impact of El Niño, and market conditions.
The recommendation is that consumers opt for in season products, such as mandarins, bananas, mangoes, cucumbers, and leafy vegetables such as spinach, celery and cabbage.
