World Grain - June 2019 - 22

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TUNISIA
Country remains big grain importer
despite efforts to increase production
by Chris Lyddon

Tunisia, on the north coast of Africa, depends on imports for a
large part of its supply of grain. The government aims to increase
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designed to achieve that aim.
The International Grains Council (IGC) forecasts Tunisia's
2019-20 grains crop at 1.4 million tonnes, up from 1.1 million in
the previous year.
According to the IGC's forecast, Tunisia will import an unchanged 1.1 million tonnes of maize in 2019-20. The country's
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In a report dated March 28, the USDA attaché forecast the
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at 600,000 tonnes.
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encouraged farmers to seed earlier and larger areas," the report
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The attaché forecast Tunisia's wheat consumption in 2019-20
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380,000 tonnes.
"Barley is consumed mainly in feedlots and as supplemental feed, especially when
rangelands are stressed," the attaché said.
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Capital: Tunis
Population: 11,516,189 (July 2018 est.)
Religions: Muslim (official; Sunni) 99.1%, other (includes Christian, Jewish, Shia Muslim, and Baha'i) 1%.
Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Libya.
Government: Parliamentary republic. Chief of state:
President Beji Caid Essebsi (since Dec. 31, 2014);
head of government: Prime Minister Youssef Chahed
(since Aug. 27, 2016).
Economy: Tunisia's economy - structurally designed
to favor vested interests - faced an array of challenges exposed by the 2008 global financial crisis that
helped precipitate the 2011 Arab Spring revolution.
After the revolution and a series of terrorist attacks,
including on the country's tourism sector, barriers to
economic inclusion continued to add to slow economic growth and high unemployment. Following
an ill-fated experiment with socialist economic policies in the 1960s, Tunisia focused on bolstering exports, foreign investment, and tourism, all of which
have become central to the country's economy. Key
exports now include textiles and apparel, food products, petroleum products, chemicals, and phosphates,
with about 80% of exports bound for Tunisia's main
economic partner, the E.U. Tunisia's strategy, coupled
with investments in education and infrastructure, fueled decades of 4% to 5% annual GDP growth and
improved living standards. Former President Zine el
Abidine Ben Ali (1987-2011) continued these policies, but as his reign wore on cronyism and corruption
stymied economic performance, unemployment rose,
and the informal economy grew. Tunisia's economy
became less and less inclusive. These grievances contributed to the January 2011 overthrow of Ben Ali,
further depressing Tunisia's economy as tourism and
investment declined sharply. Tunisia's government
remains under pressure to boost economic growth
quickly to mitigate chronic socio-economic challenges, especially high levels of youth unemployment,
which has persisted since the 2011 revolution. Successive terrorist attacks against the tourism sector
and worker strikes in the phosphate sector, which
combined account for nearly 15% of GDP, slowed
growth from 2015 to 2017. Tunisia is seeking increased foreign investment and working with the IMF
through an Extended Fund Facility agreement to fix
fiscal deficiencies.
GDP per capita: $11,900 (2017 est.); inflation:
5.3% (2017 est.); unemployment: 15.5% (2017 est.).
Currency: Tunisian dinars (TND): 3.01 dinars equal 1
U.S. dollar (May 20, 2019).
Exports: $13.82 billion (2017 est.): clothing, semifinished goods and textiles, agricultural products,
mechanical goods, phosphates and chemicals, hydrocarbons, electrical equipment.
Imports: $19.09 billion (2017 est.): textiles, machinery and equipment, hydrocarbons, chemicals,
foodstuffs.
Agriculture: 10.1% (2017 est.) of GDP and 14.8%
of the labor force.
Internet: Code: .tn; 5,665,242 (July 2016 est.) users.
Source: CIA World Factbook

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