An assessment of the agricultural potential of central Tunisia

"April, 1978.""This assessment of the agricultural potential of the Central Tunisia Rural Development Project Area was sponsored and financed by USAID in Washington and the Tunisia AID Mission under Contract No. AID/Afr-C-1139, Work Order No. 5. The assignment was completed from Feb. 22 through April, 1978. Four staff members from the University of Missouri, Columbia, collaborated in all phases of the evaluation assignment. They represented four different disciplines as follows: Charles F. Cromwell, Jr., Agricultural Engineering; Albert R. Hagan, Agricultural Economics; Earl M. Kroth, Agronomy; and Michael F. Nolan, Rural Sociology. Work procedures included conferences with USAID staff members in Washington and five week's time in Tunisia as explained on pages 12-15 of this report. Further evaluation of data and report preparation were completed during April in Columbia."--Introduction."The assignment of the team was to assess the agricultural potential of the eight delegations comprising the Central Tunisia project zone. Since the vast majority of the area's residents are small, dryland farmers, the team devoted the major share of its time and resources to proposals which would be directed at this group. The one overriding objective guiding the team's efforts was to improve the income level of dryland farmers in the region which currently stands at only ten to twenty percent of the Tunisian national average. In collecting information necessary for this assessment, the team relied on documents and on-site visits. A great deal of information on the area (or portions thereof) had been collected and the team spent considerable time reviewing these materials. The site visits and review of previously reports allowed the identification of a number of constraints to production. These included physical factors, technological limitations, human resource constraints, economic constraints, sociocultural constraints, and institutional factors. A two-pronged strategy was adopted for recommending interventions directed at small dryland farmers. One portion of the proposed program seeks to provide water for irrigation to as many of the dryland farmers as possible. The second offers proposals for maximizing the income of dryland farmers who, by necessity or choice, must remain in a dryland condition . The team proposed a number of interventions for USAID to consider for funding. The specific programs proposed can be organized under three general headings: facilities-equipment, demonstrations and adaptive research and training. ..."--Summary of conclusions and recommendations."Sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Contract AID/Afr-c-1139. Work Order No. 5."Digital copy created by MU Libraries. Digitized from a duplicate copy that was not added to the collection.Includes bibliographical references