On Thursday, Mohamed Rajbiya, an official at the Tunisian Farmers' Union, predicted a "catastrophic" grain season with a decline of about 75% in the crop yield due to severe drought. Rajbiya also forecasted a harvest of between 200,000 and 250,000 tons this season, compared to 750,000 tons last year.
According to Hamadi Habib, the Director General of the Office of Planning and Water Balances at the Ministry of Agriculture, the levels of Tunisian dams have dropped by one billion cubic meters due to a scarcity of rain from September 2022 to mid-March 2023.
The significant expected decline in grain production in Tunisia is likely to exacerbate the public financial difficulties that are on the verge of collapse amid efforts to obtain an international rescue package.
Residents in some areas of the Tunisian capital and other cities reported that authorities began cutting drinking water at night about a week ago as part of what appears to be a plan to reduce consumption amidst a severe drought crisis that is plaguing the country due to a lack of rain, leaving dams almost empty.
