The fear of food shortages and rising prices during Ramadan is a recurring concern for Maldivian citizens. Many worry that suppliers may not be able to keep up with the surge in demand, leading to stock shortages and inflated costs for basic necessities.
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With Ramadan fast approaching, one of the concerns citizens continue to have is the accessibility to food during the holy month. Ramadan is one of the few times of the year when households across the Maldives cook in abundance every day, preparing meals for iftar and suhoor. This increase in consumption often leads to mass purchasing - as citizens often tend to buy in bulk in preparation for the month, which can result in the rapid depletion of essential food items and subsequent price hikes.
The fear of food shortages and rising prices during Ramadan is a recurring concern for Maldivian citizens. Many worry that suppliers may not be able to keep up with the surge in demand, leading to stock shortages and inflated costs for basic necessities. For low-income families, this could mean struggling to afford even the most essential food items needed to observe the holy month. This fear also continues to fester as the Maldives recently experienced such a shortage and increase in price in one of the essential products that is used in every household. The shortage in onion, although not only experienced by the Maldives but also its neighbouring countries, was heavily attributed to the climate-induced reduced exports from India. While it was an unavoidable situation, this decline in supply led to a direct increase in the market price for onions in the Maldives. This occurrence in 2024 was quickly dealt with by the Maldivian Government by importing a steady supply of onions into the country through the State Trading Organisation (STO) - which led to market prices reducing as the shortage was quickly addressed.
Anticipating the bulk-purchasing and increase in food purchases during the month of Ramadan, the Government has already set similar plans into action in order to assure citizens of steady prices for essential household produce items as well as a steady supply of food items being imported through STO. In order to set these plans into action, the Government has stated that a total of 114 produce items that are commonly used in Maldivian households will undergo price monitoring during the month of Ramadan in order to make sure markets and retail stores do not charge a higher price during the holy month. The produce and household food items were selected by the Economic Ministry after considering four different factors:
By taking these factors into consideration, the Ministry has managed to come up with a list for price control, which includes 93 basic ingredients used in households for eating and preparing food, 38 different fruits and vegetables, and 10 types of fish or seafood items. In order to ensure price control, a monitoring team put together by the ministry will be visiting shops and local markets around the country to collect information. Based on the information gathered by the team, the Economic Ministry will be able to identify and intervene in any instance of price being increased above the market price.
In addition to the work being done towards ensuring price control for the 114 items, the Economic Ministry has also stated that arrangements have been made in order to have a steady supply of necessary food items used during Ramadan imported through STO, in order to have increased stock of basic food items. Additionally, the Government is also working on identifying the issues and difficulties surrounding international supply chains in order to address such concerts so that entrepreneurs who are importing goods into the Maldives can import goods without facing these struggles. The Government also stated that work is being done towards establishing temporary markets in various parts of Male’ as well as Hulhumale’ City in order to make food accessibility during Ramadan easier.
