Tunis - A small Cabinet meeting was held on Wednesday at the Kasbah, dedicated to examining the agricultural sector.

During the meeting, Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, Ezzeddine Ben Cheikh, presented a comprehensive report on the sector’s achievements over the 2021–2025 period, along with an assessment of the main issues and key challenges, and an overview of the sector’s assets, strengths and opportunities for development.

The presentation included the strategic vision for Tunisian agriculture for the 2026–2030 period, based on inclusive agriculture that supports development and strengthens food and water security.

This is to be achieved through the sustainable development of natural resources, limiting climate-related impacts and challenges, and reinforcing food security as a pillar of national sovereignty.

It also calls for structural reforms and measures to improve production and productivity, enhance competitiveness and exports, as well as ensure the safety and quality of plant and animal agricultural products, alongside a policy of profitable pricing.

The report also highlighted the importance of establishing an inclusive agricultural environment that ensures integration within an appropriate institutional framework, improves living conditions in rural areas and promotes regional development.

During his intervention, the minister presented the situation of the grain, olive oil, animal feed, livestock, and dairy systems, as well as the state strategy in these areas and the action plan and programmes derived from this strategy, which will be implemented during 2026–2030.

These aim to improve the performance of these vital sectors, ensure national food security, and strengthen food sovereignty.

Regarding the grain system, the main sector indicators were presented, particularly the evolution of cultivated areas, collection and storage activities, the grain genetic improvement programme and the main challenges facing the field crop system, along with proposed solutions.

The strategic orientations for the cereals sector focus on reducing the impact of climate challenges, strengthening resilience, increasing grain yields and ensuring production sustainability, with the goal of improving national self-sufficiency rates, especially for durum wheat.

These orientations also include developing production systems for field crops through appropriate crop rotation to ensure sustainability and soil fertility preservation, promoting irrigated grain through better irrigation management, intensification, digitalisation of the sector, development of smart agriculture and decision-making tools, modernising intervention mechanisms across all production stages, establishing a mapping of collection centres and developing value chains (storage, seeds, financing).

They also include increasing grain storage and conditioning capacity, improving financing procedures for farming seasons, strengthening rail transport and enhancing the use of scientific research outputs in the field crops sector in the context of climate challenges.

An implementation timeline for the proposed programmes and projects within the 2026–2030 development plan was also presented.

On the grain system, Prime Minister Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri stressed that, under the President of the Republic’s directives, the state is working to establish a comprehensive strategic approach to structural reform of the cereals sector, aiming to consolidate food sovereignty and strengthen national food security.

This approach is based on structural reforms and practical measures targeting farmers, improving their income and encouraging production increases, as well as intensifying efforts to ensure timely access to seeds and fertilizers at subsidised prices.

She also emphasised the need to achieve self-sufficiency and the importance of using Tunisian seeds, so that Tunisia does not remain dependent on those who sell seeds that yield crops for only one season.

Regarding the olive oil sector, the main indicators and strategic orientations were presented, focusing mainly on improving production and productivity through several targeted programmes, including the rejuvenation of olive groves in the coastal, central, and southern regions.

It also aims at professional organisation of the production chain, through the creation of a budgetary funding line to finance seasonal and investment loans for small farmers and professional organisations, as well as the maintenance and development of storage capacity, supporting both the National Olive Oil Office and the State Lands Office in storage activities, in addition to adding value to olive oil exports and increasing domestic consumption.

In this context, the Prime Minister called for further improving the performance of Tunisia’s olive oil sector and enhancing its international visibility, while providing more support to small farmers in harvesting, collection, pressing and storage and simplifying access to bank financing under favourable conditions, in line with presidential directives.

She stressed the need to diversify financing mechanisms and develop intervention tools, as well as support the National Olive Oil Office, particularly in storage, and promote packaged olive oil exports with higher added value, while targeting new promising markets, thereby expanding the global presence of Tunisian olive oil and strengthening its competitiveness.

Regarding feed, livestock and dairy systems, the strategic orientations for the 2026–2030 period were presented. For animal feed, these include improving feed quality, using modern technologies and research outputs, exploiting and valorising non-conventional water resources to expand forage areas, rehabilitating pastures using adapted species, and ensuring their proper management.

They also include adopting alternative feed resources, integrating local materials into compound feed production, as well as improving governance of the feed sector, balancing competition among actors, and reducing monopolistic practices.

In this context, the Prime Minister called for diversifying drought-resistant feed sources, improving storage techniques and using non-conventional water for irrigation, ensuring continuous feed availability for all farmers, and combating market monopolisation so that the National Feed Office can fully play its role in regulating the market and countering speculators and monopolists.

The Minister of Agriculture also presented key indicators of the livestock sector, the challenges it faces and its strategic orientations toward 2030.

This strategy is based on rebuilding the national herd, improving productivity, increasing the share of local feed resources in meeting livestock nutritional needs, enhancing animal health coverage and digitising monitoring and tracking systems.

On this occasion, the strategic orientations of the dairy sector were also presented, focusing on several axes, particularly promoting sustainable, climate-adapted production, developing heat- and drought-resistant breeds, improving water-use efficiency on farms, and supporting small-scale breeders and production aggregation.

Prime Minister Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri stressed that rebuilding the national herd is part of state policy and a top priority to strengthen food security, consolidate food sovereignty, and achieve self-sufficiency.

 

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