Agriculture: working toward a new political paradigm in Tunisia Jobs for Tunisia?is a project developed by the Maghreb Economic Forum with the aim of exploring opportunities for job creation in three strategic sectors: Agriculture, Information Technology and Renewable Energies. At the core of the project are a series of workshops and round-tables held in different regions of Tunisia and through which experts have developed key policy recommendations.

1. Agriculture: working toward
a new political paradigm
in Tunisia
Collaboratingfor sustainableagriculture,
withsustainablegrowthfor jobcreation
Executive Summary
The sustainability of agriculture and its future development are
threatened if we do not take immediate actionsto resolve structural
problems hindering the field and compromising job creation.
Although at first glance it appears that public policies have partially
helped diversify and increase production, they have not yet
generated optimal solutions to make agriculture competitive and
sustainable. Change is not easy in agriculture since habits and
practices have been established for generations. Urgency is
required in order to establish a new political paradigm to ameliorate
challenges in the industry, specifically focusing on social issues,
natural resources, and economic obstacles. It is important to
capitalize on potential growth drivers, including Information
Communication Technology (ICT), renewable energy, and the
agro-food industry.
.June 2017
Policy Brief
About "Jobsfor Tunisia"
?Jobs for Tunisia?is a project
developed by the Maghreb
Economic Forum with the aim
of exploring opportunities for
job creation in three strategic
sectors: Agriculture,
Information Technology and
Renewable Energies. At the
core of the project are a
series of workshops and
round-tables held in different
regions of Tunisia and
through which experts have
developed key policy
recommendations.

2. 2 MEF Policy Brief
Introduction
The sources of the January 2011 Revolution were mainly social.
Protesters demanded equitable distribution of growth, systematic
development of the oft-neglected interior and southern regions, and
more employment opportunities for all Tunisians, regardless of social
class. Six years after the revolution, the Tunisian agricultural
industry is still facing major challenges. It struggles to grow, create
jobs, and contribute to the economic and social revival of Tunisia.
Serious reforms within the framework of a new and courageous
agricultural policy areneeded to addresscitizen demands.
The sustainability and future development of Tunisia?s agriculture
sector are under threat. The public policies implemented after
independence succeeded in expanding production of several
agricultural crops, and also improved the sector?s infrastructure
(mechanization, irrigated areas, dams, irrigation). However, they did
not succeed in addressing the structural problems which have
progressively made the agricultural sector unattractive to young
people in the labor market.
The Tunisian agricultural sector currently employs more than 16% of
the working population, which grants it a large role in the country?s
social development, particularly in neglected rural areas. This sector
contributes 12% to Tunisia?s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), and
represents approximately 10% of total investments in Tunisia. It also
provides basic inputs to an agri-food industrial sector which
constitutes 20% of the agricultural industry?s value added and
accounts for about 11% of Tunisian exports. Accordingly, the
agricultural sector remains an integral part of the socio-economic
landscape.
Why shouldwe
beconcerned
withagriculturetoday?
What is
theproblem?
DoesTunisia still have
anagricultural
profession?

3. 3 MEF Policy Brief
Since Tunisia?s independence, the agricultural sector has benefited
from relevant national policies. Efforts were made to nationalize
settlers?lands, in parallel with the integration of Habous lands into
stateproperty.
The late 1960s agricultural policies were marked by socialist
tendencies. The government engaged in a collectivization, often by
force,of privateagricultural land.
By 1970, the failure of this policy gave birth to a new economically
liberal option, with the creation of the National Compensation Fund
This was a subsidy mechanism for national agriculture, which
generated aremarkablequantum leap.
During the second half of the 1980s,aperiod of economic downturn in
Tunisia,the government opened the country to private investment and
worked toward improving agricultural infrastructure. This trend
toward openness has continued until the present day, helping to
improvethequantity produced and thequality of products.
On the other hand, successive five-year development plans,
implemented since independence, have helped diversify the economy
in the services, industrial, and tourism sectors. This sector
diversification has tended to favor grant allocations for these new
sectors,often to thedetriment of the agricultural sector.
How haspublicpolicy
towardsagriculture
evolved?
Trendsof employment
in agriculture vsthe economy
Employment inagricultureandfishingsector
Total of employment intheeconomy
Source: INS- National Institute of Statistic

4. 4 MEF Policy Brief
1. A triple threat to agricultural land: fragmentation,
urbanization anddesertification:
The agricultural sector depends on availability and quality of land.
Today, these lands face three major problems threatening the whole
spectrumof Tunisian agriculture:
- Fragmentation: ownerscontinuously divide land over time.Some
farms are now so small that it makes it difficult to generate
income.
- Urbanization: fertile lands are under threat and will continue to
be, as long as the territorial development policy remains
ineffective.
- Desertification:climate changeisleadingto desertification of the
southern and central regionsof Tunisia.
2. Thescarcity of quality water:
Without water, no intensification of production nor any improvement
of crop yields is possible. Today, we are witnessing an over exploitation
of groundwater in certain regions, threatening the sustainability of any
agricultural activity.
Also problematic are intersectoral competition on water in other
regions (tourism/ industry vs agriculture) and the unavailability of
quality water in some potentially lucrative agricultural areas (salinity,
inadequatedrainage,lack of irrigation infrastructure,etc.)
Seven major dangersthreatening the agricultural sector
Without a deep diagnosis and a courageous policy of reform, Tunisia risks losing a very valuable,
even vital deposit which could guarantee national food security, social stability and economic
development.

5. 5 MEF Policy Brief
3. Almost complete import dependence on seeds, seedlings and
fertilizers:
Tunisia imports the majority of these products from abroad,which puts
thecountry?sfood security at risk.
4.Lack of skilledandcompetitivelabor:
Significant mechanization and an increase in the technological level of
farms? operations are not enough to improve Tunisian agriculture.
Indeed, the human factor, its spatial, temporal availability and level of
qualifications remain crucial to increase the level of productivity and
thusprofitability.
In this regard, it is important to underline the social vulnerability of
rural women, whom represent the backbone of several agricultural
activities (gathering olives, planting vegetable crops, etc.) and the
youth?slack of interest in agricultural activity.
5.Weaknessesinfinancingsystemsandagricultural insurance
Farmers often suffer from difficult land ownership situations. In most
cases, they cannot access bank financing or insurance plans. They
therefore rely on other sourcesfor critically needed financial resources
or on loans from inputs?suppliers, thus frequently compromising their
projects profitability and the investment prospects essential to the
futuredevelopment of their activities.

6. 6 MEF Policy Brief
6.Thebulk of farmincomegoesintothepocket of intermediaries
The current market least benefits farmers. They often lack the
necessary financial resources to guarantee sales, and have to rely on
intermediaries.
7.Ade-regulatoryimpact of climatechangeoncrops
Finally, climate change, even if considered an external factor to the
agricultural system,increasesthe risk to the activity and the farmer and
thus limits the socio-economic attractiveness of agriculture. To make
agriculture able to re-attract young people, create jobs and wealth for
Tunisians, it is necessary to absolutely revise the whole paradigm on
which agricultural policy has been built up to this day. It is no longer
merely a food security issue, but has also become a question of making
our agriculture both sustainableand competitive.
Changes, however, are starting to emerge, with researchers and
entrepreneurs exploring possible solutions on the boundaries between
disciplines (eg. ICT and Agriculture). The culture of venture capital and
startups, which brings about positive changes in other areas, and
generates substantial job creation, is gaining ground in food and
agricultureand isspreadingglobally.

7. 7 MEF Policy Brief
Review the Tunisian agricultural policy paradigm in a concerted
manner between government, farmers' union, regions, civil society
stakeholders, insurance organizations, universities and agronomic
research centers. Building this synergy between different
stakeholders allows to approach the future of agriculture through the
prism of sustainability and competitiveness, and not only food
security.
It is imperative to make sure the agricultural sector is inclusive and
promotes job growth. Changes are not easy to implement as farmers
have been using the same techniques for centuries. Additionally, farmers
and the rural population in general are often a defenseless and
under-represented social class. The only way forward to restore the
sector?s importance and employment attractiveness for young people is
by working toward generating more income and value added for farmers,
agricultural workers,and theeconomy.
Review the
Tunisianagricultural
policy paradigm
troughtheprism
of sustainability
andcompetitiveness
What is
theresponsibility
of policy makers?
Policy Recommendations
Incidenceof povertyin2010 byoccupation
Farmoperators
Farmworkers
nonagricultural workers
Tunisia
Poverty Extremepoverty
It isour responsibility to act quickly and in parallel on different levels:

8. 8 MEF Policy Brief
This participatory action must lead to a single document on the
Tunisian agricultural sector?s future and should be concluded by a
"pact on agricultural sustainability in Tunisia" adopted by political
parties, professionals, the central administration and the citizens
represented by their elected representatives in the ARP (Assembly of
People's Representatives). The current challanges of the agricultural
sector represent ultimately a threat to the future of natural resources
in Tunisiaaswell asto the citizens' and regions?rolein maintainingand
developingour agricultural heritage.
Make agriculture an attractive activity to young job-seekers,
particularly in agricultural bans within inland regions. This, indeed,
could turn out as an important source, not only for unemployment
reduction, but also for contributing to development of interior
regions. In this regard, the urgent need is to upgrade the distribution
channels of agricultural products and to quickly create production
marketsin theregionsthrough which agricultural productsmust pass.
The implementation of this reform, was established several years ago,
but despite how vital it is,is progressing very slowly,still allowing free
rein to intermediaries to dictate their conditions and prices to
farmers. The needed restructuring of the distribution channels will
improve prices and margin transparency in the country and make
agricultural taxation moreefficient.
This approach would guarantee a truly equitable distribution of the
generated wealth and the agricultural growth dividends among the
different actors in the agricultural value chains,.Furthermore it would
allow he farmers and the agricultural workers to earn a respectable
income, thus providing the basis for inclusive growth. It is also
important to note that today, in the media or in public debates, the
farmer,especially the small peasant and the rural woman,are virtually
absent. Given this lack of representation, young people are not
intrigued by thefarmingprofession.
Makeagriculture
a sourceof employment
andof development
for theinterior regions

9. 9 MEF Policy Brief
Opening up agriculture even further to other sustainably growing
economic sectorsin order to allow positive synergies to produce their
effects. This can only be beneficial to agriculture and represents an
endless source for enhancing national research and innovation while
pavingtheway for new projectsand initiativesfor entrepreneurs.
It is a responsibility for policy-makers to bring together those
responsible for agricultural policy with those of the future strategies
of industry and trade, ICTs, water and energy (environment control,
Energy and renewable energy in particular) without forgetting
research and innovation. The objective is to investigate sectors of the
future for the Tunisian economy and to explore possible connections
between agriculture and other promisingsectors.
As per the land fragmentation problem, the state should create the
most favorable conditions for the possibility of the largest number of
small farmers to consolidate operations. Indeed, for many years there
has been a reversal of trends on a global scale: there are methods for
valorising small-scale agriculture through new production methods,
particularly organic ones, and new marketing methods such as the
productsof terroirs,likegrapesfor wine.
Createsynergy
betweenthe
agricultural sector
andthesector of
industry andtrade,
ICTs, water and
renewableenergies.

10. MEF Policy Brief
National Instituteof Statistics,
http://www.ins.tn/en/statistics-tunisia-national-institute-statistics.
Annuairedesstatistiquesagricoles(2014),Ministèrede l?Agriculture.
Background notesur l?agricultureen Tunisie(2016),Maghreb Economic Forum
Enjeuxsocio-économiquesdu développement agricoleen Tunisie (2014),Agence
Françaisedu Développment
References
About MEF
The Maghreb Economic Forum
(MEF) is an independent
Think-and-Do Tank founded in
2011 on the premise of
supporting economic and social
development in the five
Maghreb countries.
Our mission is to convene and
mobilize diverse actors to
catalyze sustainable economic
and social development in the
Maghreb.
MEF believes that an informed,
active citizenry is the key to
building sustainable economies
and inclusivesocieties.
Contacts:
contact@magef.work