Tunisia, one of the main North African grain importers had harvested a lower-than-average 1.6 million tonnes of cereals for the 2005-2006 period due to bad weather, a government official said on Monday.
"The 2005/06 cereals harvest is under the average due to unfavourable weather conditions at the start of the season and to a lack of rainfall over March-April period," he added. The average grain crop in the country, where cereals output swings sharply because of cyclical drought, is 2.0 million tonnes for the last decade. Cereals output stood at 0.5 million tonnes in 2002 and a record high of 2.9 million tonnes in 2003.