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Agriculture has a leading position in the
Tunisian economy. The farming sector employs 26 %
of the working population. The objectives to
achieve are food safety for basic products and
diversification of the range of products intended
to exportation. The problem of Tunisia is to
mobilize all the water resources.
Only 380,000 hectares are irrigated, which is a
low rate. The variations of the agricultural
production are due to the irregular rains. The
specificity of the climate allows to cultivate
fruits and vegetables over reversed season as
regards to France.
During the years 1996-1997, a favorable climatic
condition conbined with the improvement of the
mobilization of water resources and the
liberalization of the imports arrivals strengthened
the agricultural production growth.
Today, the sector suffers from two major
problems: the dispersal of agricultural properties
and the number of farmers which has varied from
326,000 to 471,000 between 1961 and 1996, with
surfaces ranging on average from 16 hectares to 11
hectares by farmers, which is very far from the
competitive standard of 50 hectares.
As far as fishing is concerns, fish farming
activities are located in Sfax. This sector suffers
from a crisis which is connected with the
diminution of fishing resources of the Bay of
Gabès. The Ministry of Equipment and Environment
plans to develop 5 new fishing ports by attracting
foreign capital. Sea products are exported
especially to Italy and Spain.
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