Title: Tunisia's economy hit by olive oil glut - The Washington Post
Headings: Tunisia is one of the world’s top olive oil producers. But now, it’s facing a crisis of too much.
Tunisia is one of the world’s top olive oil producers. But now, it’s facing a crisis of too much.
Content: Olive oil prices around the world plummeted, and farmers across Spain staged protests. Climate change, which is causing intense droughts punctuated by seasons of heavy rain, has made Mediterranean olive production even more unpredictable. More than 90 percent of Tunisia’s olive trees are nonirrigated, leaving Tunisia especially vulnerable. Abdelmajid Ezzar, president of the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries, said low prices have hit those in the country’s poorer interior regions particularly hard. On Adel Jamaoui’s farm outside Kairouan, withered black olives litter the ground under trees that Jamaoui cannot afford to harvest. Story continues below advertisement
In December, angry farmers blockaded the Agriculture Ministry in Tunis, demanding that the agriculture minister resign and the government stabilize prices. Advertisement
The government responded by buying up some of the surplus and subsidizing exporters’ transportation costs. In January, it approved an emergency plan to store 100,000 tons of olive oil and pay a premium to producers and exporters. The central bank, meanwhile, has urged banks to continue extending credit to those affected. Tunisian officials have engaged in olive oil diplomacy, calling on foreign diplomats in Tunisia to promote the country’s oil back home.