AGRICULTURE, TRADE, AND POVERTY IN TUNISIA 101
ies sector has remained in the range of 11–14 percent of GDP since the mid- 1990s. The value added in the food processing sector has remained at around 3 percent of GDP. Together, these sectors account for about 15 percent of GDP (Table 5.1).
Based on the gross value of output, livestock is the largest component of the agricultural sector in Tunisia, representing 36 percent of the total (Table 5.2). This is followed by fruits and vegetables, which together account for about 33 percent of the total. Agricultural production in Tunisia remains vul- nerable to drought, however, as indicated by the annual variation in the value of output. The value of grain and fruit output has been particularly volatile. According to a 2004/05 agricultural survey, wheat accounts for 23 per-
cent of the planted area in Tunisia, barley 13 percent, olive trees 32 percent, fruit and nut trees 17 percent, forage crops 9 percent, and vegetables 4 percent. Agriculture in the north is dominated by grains and horticulture, in the center by olive production, and in the south by fruit, nuts, and olives. Table 5.3 shows the cropping pattern by farm size. The share of cultivated area allocated to grains ranges from 32 percent among farms with less than 5 ha to 45 percent among farms with more than 100 ha, reflecting the fact that grains are less labor-intensive than other crops. Hard wheat (used for couscous and pasta) represents roughly half the grain area across farm size categories, while soft wheat is more important on large farms and barley is more important on small farms. Large farms devote a larger share of their cropland to hard wheat, soft wheat, and forage crops, while small farmers allocate a larger share to barley, vegetables, and tree crops, most of which are olive trees (MARH 2006).
Tunisian exports were US$9.4 billion in 2002. One source of growth in exports has been textiles and apparel, which earned US$2.9 billion in 2002. Tunisia enjoyed preferential access to European markets as a result of the quota sys- tem under the Multi-Fiber Arrangement. However, the Multi-Fiber Arrangement expired in January 2005, so Tunisian exporters will now compete more directly with exporters from Asia, particularly China, India, and Pakistan. As discussed in Chapter 3, Tunisian agricultural exports in 2002 were about US$500 million, or about 5 percent of total exports. The largest agri- cultural export over 2000–02 was olive oil, although the value of olive oil exports fluctuated considerably over this period. Other important agricultural exports include dates, wheat flour, tomato paste, and pasta, reflecting the importance of the food processing sector.
Tunisian imports were worth about US$10 billion in 2002, while agricul- tural imports were at US$1.2 billion, or 12 percent of the total. As in many other MENA countries, wheat is the most important agricultural import. Wheat imports account for 60–80 percent of domestic consumption, depending on
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