Tunisia
Latest news related to Tunisia
Stakeholder meeting and pilot area selection in Tunisia
13/01/2023
WaPOR at the CIHEAM summer school program on EO for irrigation
19/09/2022
WaPOR 2 inception workshop in Tunisia
04/04/2022
Strong interest about WaPOR at the First regional conference on improving water productivity in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region
05/12/2019
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About Tunisia
Tunisia is a North African country characterised by a predominantly Mediterranean climate, with great variability ranging from humid in the extreme north to hyper-arid in the south. The long-term average annual rainfall is estimated at 207 mm/year and annual evapotranspiration varies from 1200 mm in the North to more than 1800 mm in the South (AQUASTAT, 2015). About 80% of total water withdrawals are used by agriculture for irrigation. The availability of renewable water in Tunisia is 390 m3/capita/year in 2020 (AQUASTAT, 2020) which makes it one of the countries with a water stress level of 96% in 2019, the situation having deteriorated between 2015 and that year (FAO, 2022)
As a result of global warming, rainfall continues to decline, making both rainfed and irrigated crops increasingly vulnerable and threatening the country's food security. In the face of increasing pressure on water resources, WaPOR is one of the solutions the country is turning to to make better use of these resources.
Project milestones:
April 2022: project inception workshop in Tunis
January 2023: stakeholder meeting and pilot area selection
Pilot areas:
The 3 pilot intervention sites for the WaPOR 2 project were identified in synergy with the activities carried out under the WEPS/NENA project in Tunisia. The first site is upstream of the Sidi Salem dam and located in Jendouba (North), an area with a sub-humid climate and annual rainfall of about 500 mm/year.
The second site is downstream of the Houareb dam in Kairouan (Centre), which receives about 300 mm of rainfall annually and is mainly characterised by the cultivation of olive trees and cereals, essentially in a rainy regime. The third site is in the southwest of Tunisia and includes various types of oases, where annual rainfall does not exceed 100 mm. The main production system is intensively irrigated date palm, mainly in the oases of the provinces of Tozeur and Kebili.
The project will focus on these strategic locations in order to:
- Provide support to improve the performance of irrigation systems
- Strengthen the achievements developed under the WEPSNENA project
- Strengthen national capacities in sustainable water resources management and
- Provide support for improved management of groundwater resources/oases.
WaPOR partnerships in Tunisia
The project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydraulic Resources and Fisheries (MARHP), coordinated by the Bureau of Planning and Hydraulic Balance (BPEH).
Other partner organisations are The Olive Tree Institute (IO), the National Institute for Major Crops (INGC), the National Institute of Meteorology (INM) and various directorates of the MARHP including
- the general directorate of Agricultural Production (DGPA),
- of Water Resources (DGRE),
- of Forests (DGF),
- of International Cooperation (D-CI),
- of Rural Engineering and Exploitation of Water Resources (DGGREE),
- of Agricultural Land Management and Conservation (DGACTA),
- of Organic Agriculture (DGAB),
- of Organization, Informatics and Management of Archival Documents (OMI),
- the National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI)
- and the Agricultural Extension and Training Agency (AVFA).
The project activities are implemented in close collaboration with stakeholders who participated in the implementation of the WEPS/NENA project to ensure continuity in the efforts undertaken by that project.
© FAO/Giulio Napolitano