Agriculture: Promising results obtained following ‘Innovations for Agriculture and Agri-Food’ project

Tunis: The «Innovations for agriculture and agri-food» project implemented by the Agricultural Investment Promotion Agency (APIA), as part of the GIZ global programme «Green Innovation Centres for the Agriculture and Food Sector (GIC)» helped improve the annual income of small farmers by 150%, particularly in the dairy and potato sectors in 7 governorates.This project launched in 2018, with funding of pound 25 million (nearly 82.5 MD) granted by GIZ, provided training to nearly 14,400 out of 15,000 farmers, i.e. an achievement rate of 96% and approximately 500 trainers among technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries and the private sector.The findings of this project were discussed at a meeting organized by APIA, during which beneficiary farmers stressed the importance of the training provided, calling for increasing the number of training sessions throughout the country.More particularly, the project seeks to improve small farmers' socio-economic situation, particularl y in the milk and potato sectors, by offering training to producers and encourage them to acquire new skills, said APIA Director General, Inji Doggui.This project covers 7 governorates, namely Kasserine, Kairouan, Sidi Bouzid, Jendouba, Kef, Béjà and Siliana, she pointed out, adding that «the findings of the project obtained are promising. This is so motivating to generalize to this initiative across the country.»Secretary General of the Agriculture Ministry, Sihem Oueslati, explained that over than 7,500 farmers from the dairy sector benefited from this programme. It made it possible for them to improve their income by 150%.The official urged all stakeholders in the field of agricultural training to follow innovative approaches in a bid to increase the capacity building of small farmers who represent nearly 85% of agricultural operators.She reiterated the need to foster innovation in the sector of agriculture in order to increase productivity in a sustainable and intelligent way, develop agri-food sy stems by working to promote value chains, diversify income-generating activities as well as improve farmers' living conditions.On the sidelines of this meeting, an agreement was signed between various stakeholders in the dairy sector to develop an innovative training approach dedicated to small farmers throughout the country.Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse