Martinique is in turmoil. After several nights of riots and violence, the prefect of Martinique announced the establishment of a curfew. Since September 18, certain neighborhoods of Fort-de-France, the regional capital, and Lamentin, have been affected by this temporary travel ban: from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., residents are asked to stay at home. The cause? The mobilization against the high cost of living, which has degenerated in recent days into “looting and ransacking”. Vehicles have been ““burned”, of the “shops, vandalized or burglarized”according to the prefecture which reports “15 arrests”, “11 police officers injured” et “three rioters”, also injured.
The movement originated from the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), which, since September 1, has been mobilizing via social networks to demand price reductions in supermarkets. Since then, stores have been regularly blocked by protesters. The movement is intended to be peaceful and calls for calm “for the safety of all”. The RPPRAC considers that the “dialogue is urgent and indispensable” in an open letter published on September 18.
Food prices 40% higher than in mainland France
In Martinique, 87% of food is imported, and food prices are on average 40% higher than in mainland France, according to INSEE (2023). The biggest differences concern products such as coffee, tea, cocoa, water, dairy products and sugary products. Overall, consumer prices are 14% higher than in mainland France. Inflation also affects the island, with a price increase of 3.2% over one year in July 2024, including 4% for food.
At the same time, 26.7% of Martinicans live below the poverty line. While they are only 14.4% in mainland France, according to an INSEE note published in October 2023. On the island, the median standard of living was 19,200 euros per household in 2020. This explains why high food prices affect Martinicans so much.
Food prices: good news ahead for your supermarket shopping
Towards a 20% price reduction on 2,500 products
The Grand Port Maritime de Martinique, through which 98% of goods pass, is also affected by the mobilization of residents. “We have been issuing injunctions since July, July 1st to be precise, to large retailers asking them to align their prices with those in mainland France.”Rodrigue Petitot, leader of the RPPRAC, told AFPTV. “We are French, we have the same identity cards, the same fines, the same taxes if not more taxes, we do not understand why on the subject of food specifically we could not have the same prices”continued the one that the Martinicans nickname “the R”.
Several round tables organized by the prefecture have taken place since the beginning of the mobilization. The first of these resulted in an agreement: the participants committed to “a lasting drop in prices of 20% on average for 2,500 consumer products”. From the first meeting, the RPPRAC representatives left the premises after the prefect refused to broadcast the discussions live on social networks. Since then, other meetings have taken place with the aim of finding solutions to reduce these prices.
Among the avenues being considered are the reduction of approach costs (i.e. the costs associated with transporting goods) by creating a compensation fund, the reduction of taxation, particularly the octroi de mer, a specific tax for overseas departments, as well as the contribution of distributors to lower prices or the strengthening of food autonomy on the island. In early 2009, a strike had already paralyzed Martinique and Guadeloupe for similar reasons, leading to the establishment of a “quality-price shield” aimed at moderating the prices of a selection of products in hypermarkets.
