Edition No. 1
The cereal harvest declines under the effect of drought
The harvest is shaping up to be well below a normal year, weakened by a shortfall of rain in spring.
Context
Tunisian cereals — durum wheat, common wheat, barley — are mostly grown rain-fed, that is, without irrigation, and therefore depend directly on the winter and spring rains. A spring that is too dry at the wrong moment is enough to compromise yields, even if the annual rainfall total looks adequate.
Why it matters
A poor harvest is a double bill: falling income for farmers, and rising cereal imports to cover consumption. This increases the country’s food dependence and exposes it further to surges in world prices.
This sensitivity to the rains is one of the concrete faces of Tunisia’s exposure to climate disruption: Understand Why Tunisia is particularly exposed