Study of the Tunisian grain marketing system

Storage facilities for grains at the buying centers of the Office of Cereals are inadequate and much grain is stored outside where it is subject to weather damage. The construction of an estimated 100,000 tons of additional bulk storage is recommended; the cost would be approximately 1,400,000 Dinars. Storage facilities through the remainder of the grain marketing system appears adequate. Storage facilities at the local level for seed and fertilizer are inadequate. The additional storage recommended above should provide facilities for storing agricultural inputs. An oversimplified grain pricing structure which does not reflect the storage and transportation costs leads to inefficiencies in the over-all marketing system. For example, flour mills have much empty storage space which is not utilized because there is no price incentive to store. Transportation from point to point within the country may not reflect the cheapest routing because of oversimplification of cost for transportation. The problem of supplying farm inputs, handled through the grain marketing centers, should be studied to determine if the system could be improved to provide farmers with seed and fertilizer at the time when needed. Other recommendations are covered in the Section IX.