With an increase of 14 billion euros compared to 2019, the global market for organic products has experienced unprecedented growth due to the pandemic. In 2020, the total market amounted to more than 120 billion euros.
In this configuration, Tunisia emerges as the organic champion in Africa. It is the country on the continent with the largest number of land devoted to this agriculture: 336,000 hectares in total. But after 25 years of existence, the sector, which has already proven itself, must be considered an engine of economic development at territorial and local levels, especially since it meets the objectives of sustainable development, according to the Director-General of organic farming at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, Samia Maamar.
“We should no longer think of organic farming as a production sector, but rather a sector of economic development since this niche affects several other sectors of activity, such as tourism, agri-food,” she said. added on the sidelines of a Workshop on “Bio-sustainability applied to the agri-food and environmental sectors, experience and collaboration between Tunisia and Italy”.
Referring to the development opportunities of the sector, she cited bio-tourism which consists of allowing organic farmers to include tourist activities within their farms.
“At the global level, there is a real enthusiasm for the agricultural tourism sector which can constitute a real niche to be exploited by presenting it in the various specialized international fairs”.
She also recalled that Tunisia is the first African and Arab country to have obtained mutual recognition with the European Union (EU), and the world’s second-largest market for organic products, with export earnings reaching 250 million euros, or 9% of the total exports of the agricultural sector.
This is a sector that has its place in the national development strategy and which has significant potential and can develop further, particularly with a very demanding international market and whose development varies between 8 and 10 % per year.
An insufficiently exploited potential!
A boom that has not left many global investors unmoved, headed by those from Italy and Italy, whose ambassador, Lorenzo Fanara, noted the legal, natural and financial advantages favoring a significant margin of growth while emphasizing that this potential is not fully exploited.
He nevertheless expressed the willingness of his country, the world’s second largest exporter of organic products, to support and work in collaboration with the Tunisian authorities and professionals in the sector (investors, farmers, processors, etc.).
The director of the Italian Agency for Foreign Trade, Donatella Laricci, emphasized the need to focus efforts on developing the visibility of Tunisian products on the international market, particularly in Europe.
Tunisia has all the assets, including certifications, quality, and a favorable climate, but this potential is not developed, she further explained.
This event is organized by the ICE Agency of Tunis, in collaboration with the Italian Embassy. It is dedicated to Italian companies that intend to start a process of commercial, industrial, and technological collaboration with private and public Tunisian counterparts, in the sectors concerned.
