Egypt’s bread subsidies are unsustainable

That in egyptian Arabic the word for bread, aish, is the same as the word for life stresses the foodstuff’s importance in the country. Nearly two-thirds of Egypt’s 106m-strong population rely on subsidised bread. Partly as a result, they devour about three times the global average per head. But as its population grows and climate change makes wheat harder to grow, the government’s determination to provide its people with cheap bread looks ever less sustainable.