Tunisia's bumper harvest at risk of rot
There is nowhere to store all of the breadbasket’s grain.
Daweja Awedni in Béja
After four consecutive years of drought, Tunisia’s grain harvest is on track to be the largest in recent memory. By last week, 1.1-billion kilogrammes of wheat and barley had already been harvested, with the total expected to reach 1.8-billion kilogrammes – triple last year’s yield.
This could meet more than half of Tunisia’s grain needs, critical for a country seeking to reduce dependence on volatile international grain markets, and grappling with a lethargic economy.
However, this agricultural triumph may yet come to naught.
The same plentiful rain that delivered the abundant harvest threatens to rot the grain, as Tunisia’s storage infrastructure is inadequate and dilapidated.
Shukri al-Dajbi is a farmer in Béja, northern Tunisia, where fertile soils once fed an ancient empire, leading it to be known as the “granary of Rome”. “The wheat and barley harvest is everything to us … we watch our crops for months with love and fear, knowing that any loss will devastate our families,” said al-Dajbi, who is the head of Béja’s farmers’ union.
The farmer recalls that back in 2019, unexpected rain washed away 1.7-million kilogrammes of wheat stored in the open air, a catastrophe they fear could recur this year.
The country’s grain silos only have a capacity of 508-million kilogrammes, less than a third of this year’s expected harvest. “We need emergency measures, renting private warehouses, especially in provinces with limited facilities,” said Mohamed Rajaibia of the Tunisian Farmers Union.
Beyond its economic significance, wheat holds deep political and strategic significance not only in Tunisia, but across North Africa. Access to affordable bread is a cornerstone of regime legitimacy in the region.
Leaders often maintain bread subsidies to avoid public unrest, as food insecurity has historically been a spark for protest and instability.
Yet this delicate political balance is increasingly threatened by the unpredictability of climate change, making long-term food security harder to achieve.