The Tunisian government used 2.4 billion dinars ($780 million) to buy grain from foreign markets between January and July 2023.

Wheat alone took up 1.4 billion dinars ($450 million), or 57.7% of the grain imports, the country’s National Observatory of Agriculture has said.

The $780 million spent on foreign grain in the first seven months of 2023 was 4.4% higher than the grain purchases in a similar period in 2022.

Besides wheat, the other main grain imports were barley and maize, the government said in a statement on Friday.

Black Sea Grain Deal

The country spent 5.4 billion dinars ($1.75 billion) on food imports between January and July 2023, accounting for 9.8% of Tunisia’s total imports during that period.

In Africa, Tunisia was one of the leading beneficiaries of the Black Sea Grain Deal, an arrangement that allowed grain from war-hit Ukraine to be shipped out without disruption by either Russian or Ukrainian forces.

Other African countries that benefited significantly from the initiative were Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, Algeria, Sudan, Libya and Somalia, according to UN data.

The Black Sea Grain deal, which expired on July 17, is yet to be renewed after Russia, a key signatory, declined to commit its renewal.