On Friday, the Tunisian authorities approved a set of restrictions on the use of drinking water, including the adoption of a quota system to distribute it to the population for several months, following a drought in the country.

Edited by | Anna Sam

World Section

1 April 2023- Tunisia

      The Minister of Agriculture issued a decision to limit the use of potable water for agricultural purposes, irrigate green spaces, clean streets, and public places, and wash cars.

A quota system will also be adopted to distribute water to the population until next September.

The ministry justified its decision by "frequent years of drought and poor revenues from dams, which negatively affected its water reserves, which reached an unprecedented level."

Tunisia is facing a severe drought crisis with decreasing rainfall, and the dam filling rate has not exceeded 31%, and some of them are less than 15%, in a country whose economy depends mainly on agriculture.

These decisions coincide with the advent of the month of Ramadan, and residents in different areas of the Tunisian capital talked about the water being cut off at night when the water consumption rate increased.

Agricultural unions began sounding the alarm for the agricultural season, especially with regard to the grain sector.

The Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries said in a statement that thousands of hectares were affected by the lack of rain and the low level of dams, in addition to the damage to fruit trees, vegetables, and others.

Union spokesman Anis Kharbash said in media statements that the grain season "will be disastrous and the harvest season will be non-existent" this year and that Tunisia will produce only "2 million quintals" of grain. And this number is not enough even for the seeds of the next season.

Experts attribute the main cause of drought and the frequency of climatic disasters such as floods and hurricanes, which are expected to increase, to the exacerbation of climate warming.

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