Tunisia Celebrates 62nd Anniversary of Agricultural Evacuation
On May 12, Tunisia marks the 62nd anniversary of the agricultural evacuation, a significant milestone in the country's recovery of its lands and consolidation of national sovereignty. However, beyond the historical significance of this date, current challenges focus on food security, seed autonomy, and adapting the agricultural sector to the effects of climate change and international market fluctuations.
La Presse - Tunisia celebrates Tuesday, May 12, the 62nd anniversary of the agricultural evacuation, declared in 1964, with the recovery of its agricultural lands from French colonizers. This land independence remains confronted with the double challenge of achieving food self-sufficiency in certain sectors, which is itself dependent on seed security, dominated by influential international groups.
The Strategic Challenge of Seeds and Scientific Research
In addition to the growing climate instability, recent market disruptions and uncertainties caused by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have had consequences on prices, food security, and fertilizer availability. These structural elements, despite the significant winter rainfall that allowed for a 70% filling of reservoirs and a relatively good cereal harvest, require closer attention to food security challenges and the total independence of production, including the strategic aspect of seeds.
A Major Achievement in Seed Research
A recent achievement has been announced, consisting of "sequencing and publishing the complete genomes of two emblematic local varieties of Tunisian hard wheat: Mahmoudi and Chili." This achievement opens up "concrete and interesting perspectives for the selection of new hard wheat varieties more resistant to climate change, water stress, diseases, while improving the technological quality of semolina," according to expert Ridha Bergaoui, reacting on the Onagri website.
"In a country where hard wheat touches both food, rural economy, and social stability, this advancement could constitute an important step towards greater food security and better seed autonomy," adds the expert.
A Sector Still Underfunded
In the domain of large-scale crops, Tunisia, year after year, is almost close to self-sufficiency, particularly in hard wheat. However, for many varieties, especially legumes, local production depends seriously on imported seeds, which, although resistant to climate volatility and presenting higher productivity, are not reproducible locally, highlighting the importance of investing more in scientific research to find adapted solutions to the climate and local production conditions. Thus, numerous incentives have allowed for increased agricultural investments from one year to another: 15.9% in 2025 compared to 2024 and 37.6% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year.
Despite Performance, the Agricultural Sector Remains Underfunded
However, despite this performance, the agricultural sector remains in third position, according to data from the "Tunisian Investment Authority" with 18% of investments in Tunisia, behind the industrial and services sectors. The sector employs more than 15% of the active workforce, contributes 13% to the GDP, and represents 10% of exports. Many structural challenges, however, remain unresolved, including the lack of exhaustive statistical data, particularly in animal production, the fragmentation of farms, and the persistence of traditional production methods in many agricultural sectors.
