But maize flour and cylinders of cooking gas, two staples for the poor, have become scarce and expensive.

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Those who remain, often the old and the very young, are easier to intimidate or bribe with hand-outs of maize flour.

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It recently launched four agro-industrial businesses supplying staple products such as milk and maize flour, and its retail-food chain, Mercal, aims to cover 60% of the market.

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