Meat on day one, lentils after: How Egyptians are cutting back in Ramadan
Sanaa Omar plans to set aside more than half her family’s monthly income for iftar meals in Ramadan. Even then, it feels inadequate against today’s food prices.
“Every month I pay 2,500 pounds for rent, 1,000 pounds for utility bills, and 3,000 pounds for transport, school expenses and medicine. I also save 1,500 pounds. That leaves about 7,000 pounds, most of it for food and drink,” Sanaa told Al Manassa.
Four years ago, that sum could provide decent food for a family of four. Since then, food inflation has turned groceries into a constant dilemma for households with limited incomes.
Even with inflation at around 10% this year, prices remain high. Four low-income families who spoke to Al Manassa estimated that even modest Ramadan meals cost no less than 6,000 pounds (about $118) for the month. Some rely on charity.
Meat on the first day, lentils and koshary after
“We try to make it a month of blessings, not waste,” Sanaa said.
She budgets around 1,000 pounds for meat for the entire month, and 1,500 to 2,000 pounds for chicken two to three times a week. Vegetables cost about 30 to 40 pounds a day, or up to 1,200 pounds a month. Suhoor runs about 80 pounds a day, totaling roughly 2,500 pounds.
“To save, we make juice at home, like tamarind or sobia. I stock up on rice, pasta, sugar and tea beforehand, and we reduce portions so nothing is thrown away. Two days a week, we skip meat and eat lentils, fava beans or koshary.”
Welcome, Ramadan expenses
Ali Youssef, an accountant supporting a family of four, estimates food spending rises about 20% in Ramadan.
He earns 10,000 pounds a month (about $210). After paying a 1,500-pound installment on his social housing apartment in Hadayek Al-Asimah, 700 pounds in bills, 1,000 for transport and 800 for education, about 5,000 pounds remain for food. In Ramadan, that can climb to 6,000 pounds.
Despite cutting back on meat, his family cannot reduce daily iftar costs below 120 to 140 pounds. Suhoor costs about 1,500 pounds over the month.
“We usually eat fava beans, eggs, cheese and baladi bread, sometimes boiled potatoes. Yogurt is essential,” he said. “We also cut down on ready-made juices and sweets.”
He shops at subsidized outlets and Ahlan Ramadan markets, where the Supply Ministry says discounts range from 15 to 25%.
Where did the Ramadan of the past go?
Affaf Mohamed, a widow in a village west of Aswan, supports two daughters on her late husband’s 10,000-pound pension. She recalled memories from the not-so-distant past: Ramadan before the latest wave of inflation, when she felt far less pressure from living costs.
“Back then, our income was very good and covered our needs, and we could buy many things. Now it barely covers the basics, and with prices rising it’s hard to live like before,” she told Al Manassa.
“In past years, most days of Ramadan had meat. Now things have changed. A kilo of meat has reached around 400 pounds, and a kilo of chicken is now 85 to 90 pounds. So we’ve cut quantities a lot, in Ramadan and on regular days,” she said, describing her belt-tightening measures.
“We depend more on beans, pulses and vegetables. Even with cheese, we don’t buy all the types like we used to. We choose certain kinds, and not all the time. There are many things we gave up because they aren’t essential.”
On Ramadan yameesh (nuts and dried fruits), she said: “We used to buy good amounts of raisins, dried apricots, coconut and nuts. Now we buy very little, or only some items, because their prices have gone up.”
Without charity iftars, we can’t make it through the month
Abdel Wahid Mahmoud’s five-member household cannot officially be classified as poor, since the state has not updated the poverty line since 2020. Still, the father’s description of the gap between income and minimum spending is enough to convey their situation.
“We live in a small apartment with two bedrooms and a living room. Our monthly income is 5,000 pounds (about $98), and that barely covers rent and basic living expenses,” Abdel Wahid told Al Manassa.
The father, who works as a cleaner, said he relies heavily on donations and charity iftar meals. “That helps us get through the month and provide enough food for the household,” he said.
Families unable to meet their basic survival needs fall under “extreme poverty.” According to the latest figures from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in 2020, those households represent 4.5% of the population.
“I pay 700 pounds in rent at the start of the month, and I set aside 700 pounds for transportation. Then I divide the remaining 3,600 pounds over food and drink,” he said, describing how food consumes most of the family budget and leaves them unable to cover other necessities.
He said he spends about 100 to 120 pounds a day on iftar and suhoor.
“We buy the month’s needs in one go: two trays of eggs for about 300 pounds, four chickens for around 800 pounds, and vegetables twice a week at about 100 pounds each time, so 800 pounds a month. For suhoor we mainly depend on fava beans, eggs and white cheese. People help us with a few Ramadan bags, which saves us from buying rice and legumes. Sometimes there’s a kilo of meat or one or two chickens, which eases the pressure on expenses,” he said.
Under the latest inflation waves, Abdel Moneim El-Sayed, director of the Cairo Center for Economic Studies, said Ramadan austerity has spread across most social classes.
“Most Egyptian families have stopped buying many nonessential goods and are sticking to basic needs, while constantly searching for cheaper alternatives to meet living requirements,” he told Al Manassa.
El-Sayed said this highlights the need to address the current gap between wages and prices. “Salaries, even with annual increases, are no longer able to buy the same quantities of food or services as before,” he said, leaving Ramadan fare a burden for Egyptian families, especially those on low incomes.