Tunisia – President Kais Saied discussed a number of issues related to the agricultural sector, including the need to end the monopoly on the supply of animal feed by a limited number of people, when he met with the Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, Abdelmonem Belaati, at the Carthage Palace on Wednesday.
The President of the Republic stressed that “either the supply of this material will be carried out within a framework of absolute transparency, away from any monopoly or speculation, or the State will assume by law the monopoly of supply,” according to a statement from the Presidency.
“Small farmers, in particular, are suffering as a result of this disguised monopoly, as a result of which Tunisia is losing a large number of livestock every day,” he stressed.
On the other hand, the President of the Republic called for national efforts to be stepped up to desalinate water, particularly in view of climate change and rain retention.
The meeting also discussed the need to preserve the national wealth of seeds, as they are suitable for the country’s climate and also enable Tunisia to maintain its independence and achieve self-sufficiency, and “work is underway to achieve this, especially for durum wheat,” according to the statement.
Draft decrees to be submitted to the next Cabinet meeting were also discussed. They relate to declaring a natural disaster that requires the intervention of the Agricultural Damage Compensation Fund caused by natural disasters, and the identification of areas with drought-stricken main crops for the 2022-2023 agricultural season. Another draft decree relates to the revision of Decree No. 732 of 2009 of 16 March 2009 on the definition of the methods of intervention of the Fund for the Promotion of Date Quality and the methods of its management.
Source : Zawya
