From left to right: Malinne Blomberg, African Development Bank Group's Deputy Director General for North Africa, and Samir Saied, Tunisia's Minister of Economy and Planning
Tunisia will receive an $87.1 million loan from the African Development Bank Group to scale up cereal production, which has dropped in recent years due to climate change-induced drought. Tunisian Minister of Economy and Planning Samir Saïed and African Development Bank Group's Deputy Director General for North Africa Malinne Blomberg signed the loan agreement in Tunis on Wednesday, 19 July 2023.
Over the last decade, Tunisia has harvested an average of 1.5 million tonnes of cereals against a national consumption requirement of 3.4 million tonnes. The Bank Group's funding will allow the Tunisian government to implement the Cereal Sector Inclusive and Sustainable Development Support Project. The project aims to improve cereal productivity and upgrade storage capacity. It will also support rail transport for cereals, secure supplies and build the capacity of key stakeholders to strengthen resilience against external shocks and climate change.
Implementing the project will allow Tunisia to increase durum wheat production by 1.6 million quintals, barley by 1.2 million quintals, vegetable oil by 18,000 quintals and cattle cake by 42,000 quintals. It will also help the country reduce post-harvest and storage losses, saving around 115,000 quintals of cereals.
Ms. Blomberg said: "The project for which we have signed today's memorandum of understanding will consolidate the activities of the Emergency Food Security Support Project, approved as part of the African Emergency Food Production Facility in October 2022. It is a component of the National Pact on Food and Agricultural Production tabled by Tunisia during the Dakar 2 Summit food summit in January."
Minister Saïed emphasized the importance of the project in terms of inclusive and sustainable investment in the cereal sector. He said: "The project will enable us to increase strategic cereals storage to cover three months' requirements rather than two by renovating and modernizing port silos in Radès and Bizerte, building a new silo in Djebel Djelloud and restarting rail transport of cereals."
Like many other countries, Tunisia is facing a food crisis driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has increased the price of cereals, especially wheat, globally. The country has also experienced a drastic decline in its wheat production due to an extreme drought in the last five years, according to Tunisia's Ministry of Agriculture. Dams are at their lowest levels over the past 10 years. The Agriculture Ministry also recently announced that the 2023 cereal harvest would only be around 250,000 tonnes, much lower than the previous year's 750,000 tonnes output, and that the country would have to import 95 percent of its cereals requirements.
Implementing the project will boost food security, particularly for vulnerable populations whose diet heavily relies on cereal-based products. The project will also benefit the food processing value chain (flour mills, bakeries, cake shops, etc.) and livestock feed production.
Ms Blomberg confirmed the Bank Group's commitment to support the project and its implementation, considering the expected impact on the population's food security.
Tunisia receives multiple support from the Bank Group to develop its agricultural sector. In October 2022, the Bank approved $80 million in emergency food support for the country. The Cereal Sector Inclusive and Sustainable Development Support Project will draw on this experience to deepen the partnership between the Tunisian government and the African Development Bank. It will help boost its complementarity with the interventions of other donors, including the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Construction and Development, and the World Bank for the Cereal Sector Inclusive and Sustainable Development Support Project.
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