In Tunisia, the agricultural sector faces multiple challenges that affect both productivity and farmers’ livelihoods. Although agroecology is increasingly recognized as a pathway to sustainable agriculture, the extent of its adoption by farmers remains unclear. This study assesses the agroecological performance of 50 farms in the Sbikha delegation of the Kairouan governorate (Central Tunisia), using the Tool for Agroecological Performance Evaluation (TAPE), developed by the FAO. This tool assesses how existing cropping systems align with the 10 principles of agroecology and explores their potential for further transition. The results reveal a modest level of agroecological adoption, averaging only 41%. Several factors influence this outcome, including limited farmer knowledge and technical capacity, a weak institutional and organizational framework, and low diversification of cropping systems. Furthermore, three types of farms were identified based on their production systems: farms specializing in fruit trees, farms specializing in cereal and vegetable crops, and farms specializing in olive and vegetable crops. Among these, fruit tree farms exhibit a higher level of agroecological transition, averaging 51%. This increased diversification enhances resilience to market fluctuations. To accelerate the agroecological transition, several key measures should be implemented. Updating land property titles would improve access to credit by enabling farmers to provide the necessary guarantees. Additionally, targeted training programs and awareness-raising initiatives could strengthen technical capacities, thereby facilitating the adoption of agroecological practices. These interventions would enhance farmers’ economic resilience, support sustainable agricultural production, and promote equitable rural development.

There was strong support for irrigation water pricing as an indicator of water shortage and opportunity cost in conceiving the development. The purpose of the paper is to assess the willingness to pay (WTP) for irrigation supply improvements and to investigate factors that affect it. Data was collected among 90 farmers in the North of Tunisia interviewed face to face. Contingent valuation technique was adopted. A qualitative dependent variable model (logit) was used. Empirical results showed that water users might accept moderate increase of water prices in order to get better water supply service. The average WTP was of 245 millimes (0.08 US$). Comparing to actual practiced price of 150 millimes/m(3) the farmers accept to pay on average 63.3% more than the price currently paid. The willingness to pay is strongly affectedby agricultural training and education level of farmers. It is proved too that corruption and free riding behaviour reduce significantly the farmers' willingness to pay for groundwater.

Improving irrigation water productivity is one of the most important ways to deal with water scarcity. Water pricing is considered a crucial tool for water demand management. This research aims atestimating the price elasticity of irrigation water demand in public and private areas of Nadhour using an Ordinary Least Squares regression (OLS). The paper assesses the economic performance of farming system and compares the value of marginal productivity (VMP) of irrigation water to the prices of water. A structured questionnaire and field visits were used to collect data from 140 farmers. Results show that irrigation water demand is less responsive to water price variation. Estimated elasticities are-0.69 and -0.44 respectively in the public and private schemes. The total irrigated area and farmers’ status are the most significant determinants of water demand. Results showed that water productivity in private farming systems is higher than recorded in public farming systemsand the VMP of irrigation water exceeds the prices paid for water

This study mainly seeks to answer three research questions. First, we’ll look at how farmers perceive climate change (CC). Second, we’ll examine how farmers adapt their practices in response to perceived in climatic changes and finally we examine the factors that influence the farmers’ willingness to use adaptive strategies to tackle climate change threat in the Tunisian semi-arid region. Secondary and primary data collected from the governorate of Zaghouan and parametric, non-parametric methods and econometric models were used for the analysis. The findings showed that farm households were mostly worried about the environmental, social, and risk of food insecurity effects caused by the phenomenon of climate change, such as soil degradation, water scarcity, a decline in crop yields, the outbreak of pests and diseases, a decline in social life and stress from extreme events. Results also showed that education level, extension service, market access and climate change awareness were the most significant factors affecting the farmers’ perception and beliefs about climate threat. Furthermore the most common on-farm autonomous adaptation strategies used by farmers in the study region are the changing varieties and crops diversification, the increased use of water, farming calendar adjustment and income diversification. The results of the Logistic regression model showed that farmers’ intention to adapt was affected mostly by farming experience, family size, education, belonging to cooperative, market access, irrigated area and main activity. The findings of the study point to the need for increased funding for farmer training and an improved institutional framework for CC adaptation in order to improve farmers’ well-being.