Tunisia's 2026 Budget for Agriculture, Water Resources, and Fishing
The proposed budget for the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources, and Fishing for 2026 is estimated at 2.467 billion Tunisian dinars (TND), a 5% increase from the 2.346 billion TND allocated in 2025.
Breakdown of the Budget
During a plenary session held at the Assembly of People's Representatives (ARP) on Sunday, the examination of the 2026 budget revealed the following allocations:
- Compensation expenses: approximately 681 million TND in 2026, down 3% from 702 million TND in 2025.
- Management expenses: approximately 44.926 million TND, a 7.2% increase.
- Intervention expenses for the Ministry of Agriculture's mission: approximately 947.777 million TND.
- Investment expenses: estimated at 1.205 billion TND (commitment) and 726 million TND (payment) in 2026, an 8.8% increase from 1.222 billion TND (commitment) and 667 million TND (payment) in 2025.
Objectives and Challenges
The goal is to achieve self-sufficiency and food security, as well as diversify agricultural production and adapt to economic, digital, and climate transformations. However, the budget allocation for scientific research is meager, with less than 1% of the ministry's credits dedicated to research and development.
Comparison with Other Countries
In contrast, several emerging countries invest between 2% and 4% of their agricultural budget in innovation. Morocco, often cited as a regional reference, allocates nearly three times more to agricultural scientific research than Tunisia does, proportionally.
Concerns and Recommendations
The budget configuration implies a priority on management over innovation, maintaining structures rather than modernizing them. This approach has a cost, particularly in the agricultural sector, where the country faces four major pressures:
- Structural drought, requiring scientific solutions.
- Rapid degradation of water tables and soils, necessitating heavy research programs.
- Increasing dependence on cereal and feed imports.
- Declining competitiveness in several export sectors (olive oil, dates, seafood).
To address these challenges, a modern policy would require allocating at least 2% of the agricultural budget to research, as a minimum threshold for scientific sovereignty. The 2026 budget, however, seems to be moving away from this goal. The underlying problem is the lack of vision, with agriculture still being approached as an administrative and social sector rather than an innovative and technological one. By depriving itself of science, the ministry is depriving itself of a future, and the country along with it.
