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This sectoral document aims to illustrate and analyse the main factors of development policy concerning some sectors of fundamental importance for the Tunisian economy.Strategic objectives for the agricultural sector are (i) the natural resources sustainable development together with the reduction of the impacts of climate change through traditional water resources mobilization form groundwater and non-traditional water resources from desalinization and use of treated water; (ii) addressing real estate situations, resistance to ownership dispersion and exploitation of agricultural lands; (iii) promotion of production systems enhancing their competitiveness and ensuring their sustainability with particular regard to the biological products; (iv) boost the investments and financing the agricultural activity; (v) sustain small and family farming and sustain the agricultural role in the rural development; (vi) production and dissemination of knowledge; and (vii) governance rationalization of the agriculture and fishing sectors.To make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the Government aims at (i) developing the use of non-traditional resources by adopting seawater desalination for the major urban poles of the coastal strip and desalination of brackish water in the southern and central regions and stimulating the private sector to invest in the field in partnership with the public sector; (ii) improving the effectiveness of irrigation areas, giving priority to the public areas no longer in line with the goal of water economy and agricultural need, repairing the old irrigation areas and creating new ones; (iii) encouraging the use of renewable energies for water pumping to be used for drinking and agricultural activities in rural areas without electricity supply; (iv) establishing water desalination plants in the south regions to save traditional water resources and encouraging irrigation through treated water system; and (v) supporting phytosanitary and animal health safety. Measures in favor of forests provide for increasing and protection the forest cover to reach 8.7% by 2020. As for fisheries, the goal is to combat indiscriminate fishing and to protect marine wealth from depletion and conservation of biodiversity by continuing to focus the satellite observing system for large and medium-sized vessels and to respect the period of biological rest, together with the aquaculture sector development to reduce pressure on marine resources.In order to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the Plan provides for (i) integration of forest inhabitants in the forest conservation policies and activities; (ii) improvement of the marketing conditions of agricultural products by rehabilitating the markets and making them meet the requirements of quality and more transparency in transactions; (iii) improvement of the internal and external promotion conditions of marine fishing products by renewing the infrastructure and landing services in the ports and updating the wholesale markets to prepare them gradually for e-commerce; (iv) support to women role in agriculture also creating a database by gender to examine the reality of women in order to adopt a gender-based approach when developing appropriate policies to improve their role in the sector; (v) creation and support to new cooperative structures that will enable small producers to control the production and marketing chain; and (vi) addressing the debts of the agricultural sector and providing the necessary funding.To increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters main actions are directed to combat desertification, erosion, sand creep and excessive exploitation of rangelands for the preservation of agricultural land and the protection of soil, including (i) water and land protection through maintaining actions to control rainwater to protect cities from flooding; (ii) adaptation measures with the climate change, in particular building a Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems, conducting studies and paying close attention to protection and preservation of ecosystems; and (iii) financing programs that mitigate the emissions and adaptation programs to climate change.As for the Governance, the Plan seeks for a redefinition of roles between the three development protagonists (i) the State assumes a central role in the redistribution of wealth improvement of living conditions, guarantee of services, construction of infrastructure and community facilities, together with the promotion of partnership with the private sector; (ii) the private sector is a decisive actor of wealth creation, investments and employment; and (iii) the third sector comprising social and inclusive economy institutions and structures and civil society associations are full partners in the implementation of integral development.
