Tunisia inflation takes staple tuna fish out of food basket

Tuna, considered a staple in Tunisia’s cuisine, is becoming out of reach for many in the North African country due to the worsening economic crisis, The New York Times (NYT) reported.

"Inflation risks turning an everyday essential into a luxury out of reach," NYT’s Vivian Yee wrote of the cost of the seafood favourite.

The fish is used in many dishes part of Tunisian cuisine, including salads, sandwiches, pizzas, and pastries.

The prevalence of tuna in Tunisian cuisine may come from the country's coastal location. Most of the country's more than 12 million-strong population lives in the north and in cities along its 1,300 km-long Mediterranean coastline.

But years of economic mismanagement and its subsequent impact has driven up inflation to the point where Tunisians can barely afford humble amounts of tuna the NYT report said.

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Some of the country's economic decline has come from years of political crisis, but deadly militant attacks in 2015 that damaged the important tourism sector, and the 2020 coronavirus pandemic that wreaked havoc across sectors have also contributed to the downturn. Drought has devastated agriculture, worsening the trade deficit.

The dire state of the economy has contributed partly to the departure of thousands of Tunisians for Europe in recent months.

The country's coastline has also become Africa’s number one launchpad for migrants from the continent making the daring journey across the Mediterranean in hopes of reaching European shores.

(Agencies, The New Arab)