As rains failed, Tunisian farmers watched their crops wither this spring, harvesting early to salvage some as animal feed and piling costs on a state struggling to afford wheat imports with bakeries running out of bread.
At his farm just outside Tunis, Hasan Chetoui stood clutching dry sheaves of wheat, the ears empty husks, after managing to save only 20 hectares of the 150 he planted.
Three years without adequate rain are likely a result of climate change, which the World Bank has said will make Tunisia hotter and drier. TheWhile Chetoui and other Tunisian farmers despair for the financial losses they face this year, stretched state finances will also suffer. The agriculture ministry said last week the harvest would only be about 250,000 tonnes of grain this year.
Bakeries are meanwhile running out of flour and have had to ration bread in recent days. Long queues have grown outside some bakeries and others have closed their doors. Shortages of other imported, or subsidised goods, have periodically hit throughout this year. The baker, Ismail Bouabdelli, said he had been to four mills seeking flour but had so little he would have to temporarily close.Hemmed in by financial restrictions, the government has few choices though it has tried to help farmers cope with higher costs byLast year the World Bank granted Tunisia $130 million to help it import wheat at global prices inflated since the war in Ukraine. State mills sell the flour to bakeries that offer bread at subsidised prices.
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