ABSTRACT
In the mid-1980s the preoccupation with the immediate financial crisis focused attention on the question of food balances. The perceived flood of cereal imports was viewed with alarm and, indeed, advanced as proof of the failure of the agricultural sector to feed the population and a contributory cause of the financial crisis engulfing the country. Even with the passing of this crisis questions still persist on the factors affecting food balances in Tunisia. It is the objective of this chapter to examine these factors by focusing on the pattern of food consumption over time. The analysis will rely mainly on the household budget surveys of 1966, 1975 and 1980. (Results dealing with consumption patterns from the 1985 survey had not been published at the time of writing.) Particular attention will be paid to the 1980 survey, both because it is the latest available and because of its wider coverage.
