Summary:

On Monday 2 December 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the start of the olive oil export season on 1 January 2025 for approved private exporters.  

The announcement followed the meeting of President Kais with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture earlier in the day at which the President emphasized his support for farmers and ordered urgent measures to ensure a strong olive harvest, the storage of oil and the supply of seeds to farmers. 

These measures come as farmers and agricultural unions have expressed dissatisfaction with the current pricing of olive oil at seven dinars per liter, which has fallen from 25 dinars. Anouar Harathi, a member of the executive office of the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries, claimed that “exporters suddenly stopped exporting in order to flood the market to reduce prices” as part of what he described as a “plan between them and suppliers in Spain.”  

Meanwhile, farmers in Kairouan blocked roads on 29 November in protests over olive oil prices which they claimed have prevented them from covering the costs of production. 

The National Olive Oil Office previously began purchasing quantities of olive oil at prices aligned with global and domestic markets, while making government olive storage facilities available to farmers. However, these efforts have failed to appease some farmers. 

Outlook: 

The ongoing olive oil crisis is likely to continue until producers see prices reach a point that will allow them to recuperate their costs and make a reasonable profit.  With limited national capacity for storage in the meantime, the issue risks sparking more disruptive expressions of frustrations from farmers, including more aggressive forms of protest.   

The oil and the potatoes crises both point to the continued challenges faced by the government in anticipating stock deficiencies and market dynamics that have a significant impact on the Tunisian economy.  

In the mid-term, additional government intervention is likely, risking further depletion of national resources and future market disruptions. 

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