“The Tunisian farmer is immersed in the Kurdiyat and the olive and date season faces difficult challenges!” The Tunisian Farmers’ Union demands urgent support before the crop is lost!

صحافة بلادي — With the start of the olive and date harvest season in the Republic of Tunisia, the voices of farmers and producers in the governorates of Sfax, Kairouan, Mahdia, Tozeur and Kebili rose to demand urgent solutions to the financing crisis and the high prices of agricultural medicines, energy and labor.

Difficulties in storage and marketing threaten small farmers

Representatives of the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries confirmed that the absence of easy financing lines for presses and exporters places the small farmer at the mercy of speculators and middlemen, and limits Tunisia’s ability to value canned olive oil in international markets.

Warnings of a decline in irrigated areas due to drought and aging networks

Experts also alerted farmers to the need to modernize worn-out irrigation networks, which cause the loss of large proportions of water allocated to oases and farms.

Available field data and indicators confirm that these rapid developments are being closely monitored by various institutional and professional actors, given their direct connection to the current economic and social challenges, and the continuous coordination they require to ensure the effectiveness of interventions and achieve a tangible impact on the ground.

In the same context, observers and specialists agree that the current stage requires continuing to value the gains achieved and accelerating the pace of implementing programs governed according to standards of good governance, transparency, and linking responsibility to accountability, in a way that responds to the aspirations of citizens and enhances the competitiveness and immunity of vital sectors.