Tanzania may be facing food shortages but a ban against using grains in brews to overcome the shortage is not going down well with some of the brewers.
The ban was imposed because the African country needs more than 100,000 tons of grain to feed itself for the next three months, reports the BBC.
"You cannot die if you miss local brew, but you'll die of hunger if you don't have food," Prime Minister Edward Lowassa has warned.
But most of those who brew cheap illegal beer say they cannot afford to observe the ban, the report says. They also say the amount of grain they use is only a fraction of what official brewers in the city consume on a daily basis.
The food shortages, which have affected about 3.5 million Tanzanians, are blamed on failed monsoons affecting East Africa.
One brewer said: "People have to be fed but they also need to socialize."
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
