Lengthy North Africa Drought Ushers in Record Wheat Imports
Dry earth in the Sahara desert, Morocco, in April.
Photographer: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP/Getty Images
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Scarce rains are crushing wheat harvests in North Africa, ushering in the region’s largest imports on record.
The area is facing its “worst seasonal drought” in recent history, according to a report Monday from the European Union’s Monitoring Agricultural Resources Unit, which also tracks nearby countries. That will push wheat yields in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia 17% to 24% below the five-year average, with crop failures likely in some stretches.