Bread Crisis Fuels Tunisians’ Fears over Food Security

A Tunisian citizen was able to buy quantities of bread after waiting his turn in the long queues. (AFP)
A Tunisian citizen was able to buy quantities of bread after waiting his turn in the long queues. (AFP)
TT

Bread Crisis Fuels Tunisians’ Fears over Food Security

A Tunisian citizen was able to buy quantities of bread after waiting his turn in the long queues. (AFP)
A Tunisian citizen was able to buy quantities of bread after waiting his turn in the long queues. (AFP)

Everyday at dawn, Khaldoun Ben Amo, 63, heads to the neighborhood’s bakery to buy bread, to avoid the long queues that start to form in the early morning hours - a scene that is now common in Tunis.

Najia Khalafallah, 56, who lives in a village with one bakery, told Reuters that after 10 am she could not find a single loaf of bread, noting that residents were now registering their names and the number of required loaves of bread, which are not allowed to exceed five per family.

Such sad scenes are seen daily in all governorates of Tunisia. Everyday people stand in long queues in front of bakeries to get their bread.

Bread is a staple food product in Tunisian diet. The rate of consumption of bread per capita reaches 70 kilograms annually, and increases significantly during the month of Ramadan, according to official data from the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies.

The bread crisis in Tunisia fuels citizens’ fears about the existence of real threats affecting their food security, especially in light of the shortage of a number of basic foodstuffs, such as sugar, flour, rice and coffee, in addition to the milk crisis that emerged months ago.

President Kais Saeed accused “lobbyists and parties,” whom he did not name, of fabricating the crisis, calling on the Ministry of Agriculture, the Grain Board and all departments to “confront monopolists and those who tamper with the food security of Tunisians.”

“The aim of these successive crises is to fuel society for clear political ends,” he said, pointing to weak economic control, price hikes and the deterioration of the purchasing power.

Reports by the Tunisian Institute of Consumer indicate that about 900,000 pieces of bread are wasted yearly, at the cost of 100 million dinars ($33 million).

In conjunction with Saeed's statements, the Ministry of Commerce decided to stop supplying unlicensed bakeries with subsidized flour, which sparked the owners’ anger.

According to the Association for the Fight Against the Rentier Economy in Tunisia (ALERT), the bread crisis lies in structural problems, summarized in the level of local grain production, and the distribution of rations from mills to bakeries.

The association said that even in the best climatic conditions, local production was not able to cover the annual needs of grains, due to the neglect of the agricultural sector, especially main crops.

The Ministry of Agriculture had announced that the country’s wheat crop fell this year by 60 percent to 250,000 tons due to drought, increasing the country’s financial difficulties, at a time when the government is trying to obtain an international rescue package.

 

 



Italian FM Meets Syria's Sharaa in Damascus

Italian FM Meets Syria's Sharaa in Damascus
TT

Italian FM Meets Syria's Sharaa in Damascus

Italian FM Meets Syria's Sharaa in Damascus

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani met Syria's new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus Friday, state media said, in the latest such visit from a European diplomat since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

State news agency SANA did not give further details about Tajani and Sharaa's discussions, just over a month after opposition fighters seized Damascus and Assad fled to Moscow.

Tajani earlier met his new counterpart Asaad al-Shibani, after which the Syrian official said he would soon make his first official tour of Europe.

Tajani spoke of easing the sanctions imposed on the war-torn country under its former leader.

"The sanctions absolutely must not hit the Syrian population," he said.

"They were imposed because there was a different regime. It's important to open discussions on the changed situation."

Western powers, including the United States and the European Union, imposed sanctions against Assad's government for his brutal crackdown after anti-government protests in 2011 that triggered civil war.

More than 13 years of conflict have killed in excess of half a million people, ravaged the economy, and pushed millions of people to flee their homes, including to Europe.

Tajani arrived after hosting talks with European counterparts and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome on Thursday, where Tajani said they are seeking a "stable and united Syria.”

The European Union's top diplomat earlier Friday said the 27-nation bloc could begin lifting sanctions if Syria's new rulers took steps to form an inclusive government that protects minorities.

"The EU could gradually ease sanctions provided there is tangible progress," foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X.

Shibani said he welcomed what he described as Tajani's focus on sanctions.

"We share his opinion that the reasons for imposing them no longer exist, and could be an obstacle to encouraging the return of refugees from outside Syria,” Shibani said.

Tajani earlier toured the landmark Umayyad mosque in Damascus.

"It's a great pleasure... to be here this morning to visit and pay homage to all Syrian believers," he told AFP at the mosque, which is about 1,300 years old.

He described the mosque as "one of the most beautiful" in the world.

The Italian minister earlier said he planned to announce an initial development aid package for Syria.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock visited Damascus last week.