• Tunisia, IFAD launch $41M DINAMO project in northwest mountains

• Plans include water systems, cisterns, agroforestry, and processing units

• Targeted regions produce 74% of Tunisia’s wheat amid drought

Tunisia's Ministry of Agriculture launched the Inclusive smallholder agriculture development in the North-West mountains of Tunisia (DINAMO) on Monday, September 22. The program, with a total cost of 120 million dinars ($41.45 million), is co-financed by the Tunisian government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

According to local media reports, the project will be implemented over eight years across the governorates of Béja, Jendouba, Siliana, Kef, and Bizerte. Interventions will focus on extending five drinking water supply systems, building 250 rainwater cisterns of 50 cubic meters equipped with solar pumps, and promoting agroforestry systems.

The program also plans to create 20 production and processing units through business plans, network producer organizations, and support the marketing of local products.

This initiative comes as persistent drought threatens the country's food security and agricultural sector. With an average of about 400 cubic meters of water per inhabitant per year, Tunisia is below the water stress threshold of 500 cubic meters, according to the World Resources Institute.

The targeted regions for the DINAMO project are no coincidence. These five governorates—Béja, Jendouba, Siliana, Kef, and Bizerte—account for nearly 74% of the country's annual wheat production, its main cultivated and consumed cereal, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Stéphanas Assocle