On the afternoon of July 2, 2020, the shops and mini markets around Riche on Sierra Leone Street (Debre Zeit Road) had few customers since much of their shelves were empty. Milk and dairy products, bottled water and vegetable and fruit were all missing from their regular shelf locations.

Consumers of these products have been wandering all over the area searching for them in vain.

Aster Shatema, the mother of a five-year-old and a three-year-old, was looking for milk to buy for her children who consume a litre a day. Aster, who lives in Kirkos District, traveled to Piassa and Arat Kilo in search of milk. However, Aster’s search turned up empty.

“I couldn’t find even a single plastic canister to buy anywhere,” she told Fortune.

Milk retailers and shops in the capital are now empty of milk stocks due to the lockdown in the city after mass protests occurred in the city after Hachalu Hundessa, a famous singer, was killed. The protests, which started on Monday late at night and lasted through the week, have caused severe destruction and left millions worth of property damage to buildings and vehicles.

Dawit Ambaye, who owns a medium-size shop in Riche, used to sell about 30 half-litre containers of milk a day. He has been buying a single plastic container for 14 Br and selling them at 16 Br.

Dawit has encountered many customers in the past few days looking for milk, but he only has bad news to give them.

“Unusually, I'm now seeing many potential buyers who come from distant areas in search of milk,” said Dawit.

The road blockade and the unrest paused the supply of milk to the capital since most of the dairy farms are located on the outskirts of the capital in the Sebeta Agro-Industry Zone.

Family Milk Plc, which processes and packages its own brand of milk at Sebeta Agro-Industry Zone, has also ceased production and supply to the capital since early last week due to transportation closures starting last Tuesday.

“Transportation closures and now insecurities obliged us not to deliver our production to the market,” said Hailu Eshetu, CEO at the company.

The sharp supply shortages in the market are attributed to the temporary lockdown of the entrances to the capital, according to Eshete Asefa, state minister for Trade & Industry.

However, the four gates of the capital were opened for transportation as of July 3, according to Eshete.

“We're now working with the security apparatus to further secure the transportation of commodities to the capital,” he told Fortune.

The incident not only disrupted the milk supply but also the flow of other food products. The open vegetable market in Jan Meda, which recently moved from the popular Atikilt Tera due to COVID-19 precautions, now has few products. The prices of vegetables such as cabbage, onions, potatoes and tomatoes have also soared following the supply shortage.

Hamid Siraj, a vegetable retailer in the Jan Meda vegetable market, has noticed the recent price hike. On Monday, June 29, 2020, he was retailing a kilogram of tomatoes for 17 Br, but now he is selling them at 25 Br.

“Vegetable prices have sharply increased," he said. "I’m buying, for instance, a kilogram of tomatoes from wholesalers for 23 Br."

In the last fiscal year, the country produced 10.4 million, 4.6 million, 2.7 million, 2.6 million, and 235,838 quintals of potatoes, cabbage, khat, onions, and tomatoes, respectively.

Most vegetable prices have increased sharply. At the beginning of last week, Hamid was retailing a kilogram of red onions for 33 Br. However, on July 3, 2020, the price of Hamid’s onions increased by five Birr.

Additionally, the price of potatoes almost doubled from seven Birr a kilogram to 13 Br, while the price of cabbage doubled to eight Birr.

The supply of agricultural products that come from outside the capital has receded significantly. The supply of some products has dwindled entirely.

Khat is one of the commodities that has become almost non-existent in the market due to the transportation disruption. The price of what is left has skyrocketed.