A heat wave and fires are badly damaging Tunisia's grain harvest, leadig the farmers union to forecast that output will fall well short of government hopes. Loss of grain production comes as the North African country struggles with food importation costs driven higher by the war in Ukraine. Agriculture Minister Mhamoud Elyess Hamza this month forecast the 2022 grain harvest would reach 1.8 million tonnes, up 10% on last year's. "The grain harvest will not be more than 1.4 million tonnes," said Rejaibia, a member of the union's executive office. Some farmers are harvesting grain early, accepting smaller crops for fear of losing all their 2022 production to fires.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 27, 2022 10:06 UTC