RESTRICTED Report No. TO-618 Public Disclosure Authorized This report was prepared for use within the Bank and its affiliated organizations. They do not accept responsibility for its accuracy or completeness. The report may not be published nor may it be quoted as representing their views. INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION Public Disclosure Authorized MEMORANDUM ON REVIEW OF AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS TUNISIA Public Disclosure Authorized December 28, 1967 Public Disclosure Authorized Projects Department CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Since September 28, 1964 1 dinar = $1. 905 1 U.S. dollar = D 0. 525 1 million dinars = U.S. $1, 905, 000 1 million U. S. dollars = D 525, 000 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................... ................... 1 - v I. Introduction .......... .................................. 1 II. The Agricultural Sector in Tunisia's Economy . ........... 2 III. Recent Performance by the Agricultural Sector .... ....... 8 IV. Review of Projects ...................................... 11 A. Irrigation Projects (On--Going) .................... 13 B. Irrigation Projects (Proposed) ......... .. .......... 16 C. Agricultural Projects (On-Going) .................. 18 D. Agricultural Projects (Proposed) ........ .. ......... 20 E. Forestry Project (On-Going) ..... ................... 21 F. Forestry Project (Proposed) ........... .. ........... 22 G. Fishery Project (Proposed) ........... .. ............ 23 H. Summary of Project Review ............ .. ............ 23 V. Technical Assistance Requirements ....................... 24 A. Planning and Project Preparation .............. 24 B. Research .................. ......................... 26 C. Extension and Training ............. .. .............. 27 VI. AgricJl.tural Inputs ....... .............................. 29 Tables: Production of Major Crops Fertilizer Imports Estimates of Phosphatic Fertilizer Use List of Agricultural Projects Acreage and Investment Costs of On-Going Irrigation Projects Estimates of Additional Agricultural Staff Requirements by 1971 Mission Suggestions on Project Priorities Map: Economic Map of Tunisia ANME,ES 1. Lower Medjerda Irrigation Development 2. Irrigation Projects - On-going 3. Irrigation Projects - Proposed 4. Agricultural Projects - On-going 5. Agricultural Projects - Proposed 6. Forestry Project - On-going 7. Forestry - Proposed 8. Fishery Project - Proposed 9. Estimates of Bilateral Assistance to Tunisia 10. Terms of Reference BEVIEW OF AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS TUNISIA SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS i. In order to provide basic information for the meeting of a special Working Party on Agriculture established by the Consultative Group for Tunisia, a review of Tunisia's agricultural projects and programs has been prepared by an IBRD mission which visited Tunisia in late August and September 1967. The review is intended to assist the Working Party focus on the priorities and inter-related needs of the agricultural sector in a more detailed way than has been done in the past, and in being prefaced for this particular purpose it was not intended to provide any comprehensive sectoral study or detailed assessment or preparation of projects. The review which has resulted is therefore presented as a working memorandum to be used as the basis for discussions, rather than as a more thorough-going study of agri- cultural development in Tunisia. ii. Because of its importance to the economy, agriculture receives prominent attention in the Tunisian Plan Quadriennal, 1965-1968, and in recent years the agricultural sector has been receiving allocations of resources roughly commensurate with the relative contribution it makes to the Gross Domestic Product. Despite the efforts made to carry out agriculture plans and programs, the sector has not shown significant growth. Adverse weather conditions have caused large fluctuations in annual production, but in addition to this there has been little improve- ment in the quantities of modern agricultural inputs which Tunisia's farmers have employed. Fertilizers, mechanized cultivation, pesticides, and improved husbandry techniques all appear to have remained at levels which have changed very little. Several factors have contributed to cause this, but an important one has been a pervasive lack of experienced farm managers to stimulate and guide the mass of traditional farmers in new production methods and the use of modern inputs. iii. It is against this background that the review has sought to examine available projects for the purpose of identifying rough orders of priority, with potential attractiveness for foreign financing primarily in mind. The Government presented a total of 23 projects for examination, a large number of which deal with irrigation because a project approach has been applied more frequently in this sub-sector than in the others. Because projects constitute the most tangible building blocks in a development program, and as such would be of major interest to the Working Party, they have been the element of most emphasized in the review. Not all development activities are reflected in the projects, however, and for this reason the review also attempts to examine other areas and other means by which outside assistance might be utilized to promote development. These are included in the somewhat shorter treatment of technical assist- ance requirements and program aid to provide agricultural inputs. The major conclusions concerning projects and programs are summarized in the paragraphs which follow. - ii - iv. Turning first to the projects, a number of possible develop- ments concern the region of the Oued Medjerda, which is the largest potential source of surface irrigation in the country. Major steps have already been talken to develop the region of the Lower Medjerda, where work is under the direction of the semi-autonomous Office de la Mise en Valeur de la Vallee de la Medjerda (OMVVM). Exploratory studies have also been undertaken in parts of the middle and upper reaches of the Oued Medjerda, and on tributaries leading into the main river. Since developments in one part of the Medjerda Basin could have adverse effects on future agricultural development in other regions of the Basin, the first recommendation calls for a comprehensive study of the Basin as a whole in order to determine the most economic use of the water resources which are available there. It does not seem desirable to delay further work in the OMVVM area until the Basin-wide study is completed, but any additional work there would have to be limited to that which is safe to do in light of the uncertainties about future development. The review therefore recommends that an IBRD mission be sent at an early date to analyze the extensive data already available and define and appraise a suitable project for possible IBRD lending. The same mission could also prepare terms of reference for the longer-term study of the Basin. v. There are also eight on-going irrigation projects expected to be completed by 1968 or 1969. All but one of these projects (e.g., Oued Chiba) are already receiving foreign assistance. With the exception of two projects which rely on groundwater supplies, all on-going projects have very high estimated costs per hectare. Despite this, it would be desirable to complete these projects as rapidly as possible because they are so well-advanced in the construction stage. Additions to irrigated acreage from these projects total slightly more than 30,000 hectares. vi. Among six irrigation projects proposed for future development, three are located in the upper reaches of the Oued Medjerda, and would therefore become part of the Basin-wide study recommended earlier. A fourth project, which proposes to rehabilitate the irrigated agriculture of the oases in the Southern part of the country, is interesting because of the possibilities there to raise early fruits and vegetables for export. Further study of the hydrologic and economic aspects is required, but as presently conceived the project merits a high priority so that project preparations can be completed soon. vii. Two proposed water projects -- Lake Ichkeul (irrigation) and Oued Zeroud (flood control) -- have been given lower priority, largely on the basis of the economic evaluations indicated by the studies made to date. The Lake Ichkeul project, however, is complicated by the fact that it has multi-purpose objectives, and is potentially linked with developments in the Medjerda Basin. viii. There are two on-going projects falling in the broad category of agriculture, and both involve cooperative development. One is a project to form Production Cooperatives (UCP) in the Northern Region, which is being financed by the IBRD and IDA. This financing is to provide a variety of agricultural inputs needed to alter the present cropping patterns, largely by adding a livestock component to replace the fallow period which currently follows cereal crops. The project will also introduce some limited irrigation activity on the cooperatives. Technical assistance to the cooperative program will come from a Bureau of Control, especially established for this purpose, and staffed by Tunisian and expatriate tech- nical personnel. This project has been given a high priority because it can provide a good test of the viability of this type of cooperative approach to agricultural development in Tunisia, it has substantial foreign assist- ance already, and the lessons derived from exDerience under it