Tunisia Faces Smaller Grain Harvest Due to Fires, Heat Wave

A heat wave and fires raging across the country have badly damaged Tunisia’s grain harvest, according to the farmers union. The union announced that the grain harvest would fall short of agriculture ministry forecasts, which had predicted a grain harvest of about 1.8 million metric tons, an increase of 10% over last year. The union said that the harvest would not be more than 1.4 million metric tons, Reuters reported. In addition to crops destroyed by fire, the grain is in danger to damage from high temperatures, which have reached 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) and are expected to climb higher. The high temperatures will also slow or stop agricultural workers from bringing in the harvest. Some farmers began harvesting their grain a month, meaning a smaller yield, rather than risk losing the entire crop to heat and fire. The smaller than expected harvest comes as Tunisia faces a national financial crisis and is having difficulties meeting food importation costs made much higher due to the war in Ukraine. The government subsidizes food and energy import costs.