Tunis/Tunisia — "The potential of organic agriculture in Tunisia has been the subject of a landmark study, the results of which have been presented to the various national partners in this sector, which is considered a strategic pole for the country's sustainable economic development," the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) announced on Thursday.
The FAO also said that as part of the implementation of the "Support for the Development of Sustainable and Resilient Organic Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change in Tunisia" (BIOREST) project, financed by Swiss cooperation in Tunisia, a workshop was held to present the results of the feasibility study on the production and promotion of organic agricultural products.
The aim is to develop and strengthen the organic farming sector based on a territorial approach by selecting, by bioclimatic region, the benchmark organic production systems and farms that would be most suitable for conversion to this sustainable and integrated production system," said the FAO.
This study has made it possible to define a reference system for organic farming for each bioclimatic level, Samia Maamer, Director General of Organic Agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, said at the end of the workshop. Tunisia has strong organic production systems, she added.
"The Directorate-General for Organic Agriculture has made a major contribution to supporting and monitoring the activities carried out as part of this study," FAO said, adding that the Association for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security of the Mograne Higher School of Agriculture (ESA Mograne), a leading institution for higher education and scientific research in rural economics, is responsible for carrying out and implementing this study.
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This workshop is the result of work carried out under a Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and ESA Mograne.
"750 surveys have been carried out throughout Tunisia, the results of which have helped to make a clear distinction between statistics on conventional and organic farming systems. This mapping has made it possible to provide unprecedented statistics on the geographical distribution, the structures and professional organisations involved, as well as the various products selected".
The organic farming sector currently comprises almost 7,200 operators (farmers, processors, traders, etc.), including 6,669 producers, who still need guidance and support to improve their competitiveness and market requirements in a dynamic and constantly evolving international regulatory environment for organic products.
