Knowledge Management Portal

The report describes the approach used to co-identify potential Business Models through the integration of HLPE’s agroecological principles in a variety of Value chains co-selected in the Agroecological Living Landscape ‘Kef-Siliana Transect’, Northwest Tunisia.

This document reports the progress and highlights for the period January 2022 to August 2022 of the SWC@Scale/ProSol Project. It provides information on the various activities undertaken during the mentioned period.

Presentation on “Efficiency of Crop–Livestock Production Systems Under Conservation Agriculture: Scope for Sustainable System Transformation in Rain-Fed Drylands of Tunisia” delivered during the International Symposium LESOR'2022 (Djerba-Tunisia, 23-25 November 2022.

Faire le tour du monde des légumineuses en 1h chrono : tel était l'objectif de ce deuxième numéro de Transition(s), l'émission dédiée à l'agriculture mondiale : - Faire le panorama mondial des légumineuses et des récoltes à venir, dans un contexte bousculé par la guerre en Ukraine, - Décortiquer, de la fourche à la fourchette, le rôle des légumineuses dans les transitions agricoles et alimentaires, - Dessiner des pistes de coopération entre les pays du sud et du nord pour relever les défis en termes de production, de recherche, de transformation auxquels font face les producteurs.

Soil and water are basic for any agricultural production system. They are available under a huge pressure due to the increasing population and climate changes (Kumawat et al., 2020). Among the various degradation processes, soil erosion contributes seriously to the deterioration of soil and water resources. Soil erosion has also hampered agricultural productivity and economic growth in many regions and countries (Hengsdijk et al., 2005; Balana et al., 2010). Food production reduction in a specific country or region due to natural resources degradation, may not have a significant effect on food supply because of the potential substitution from other producing areas. However, the effect could be dramatic to food security of large number of people and to local economic activity (Scherr & Yadav, 1996). Practices related to soil and water conservation (SWC) enhance crop production, food security and household income (Adgo et al., 2013). Therefore, investments are promoting SWC technologies for improving agricultural productivity, household food security and rural livelihoods. Different SWC technologies have been encouraged among farmers to control erosion for example. However, investments by farmers in SWC are influenced by the ecological, economic, and social impacts of the SWC technologies (Huang et al.,2018). In Tunisia, since antiquity, inhabitants of arid and semi-arid regions have constructed water harvesting systems to cope with limited water supply. Impoundments were built to capture surface run-off. These structures are known to reduce soil erosion (Oweis et al., 2004). The Tunisian government has invested into soil and water conservation practices through institutional and legislative measures. A national strategy for soil and water conservation and agricultural development was launched since 1990. More than 600 000 hectares received conservation measures (Abouabdillah et al., 2014). The rapid expansion of soil and water conservation practices has raised questions concerning their economic and environmental impacts. The economic impact of SWC practices is mostly evaluated in monetary terms (cost-benefit analysis) (Bizoza and Graaff, 2012; Teshome et al., 2013). However, social, and ecological impacts as well as the interactions between different impacts are not easily quantified in monetary values (Tenge, 2005). Many evaluation methods of SWC measures are used to quantify the monetary and non-monetary value of SWC practices to enhance the decision-making process. Farmers' goals and motivations for investing in different SWC alternatives are different from those of researchers and extension staff, as they have other objectives besides reducing soil loss and maximizing benefits. These objectives may be conflicting, so no SWC measure can provide the best outcome for all farmers (Tenge, 2005). The objective of this work is to provide a technical guide on the different methods of economic evaluation of soil and water conservation practices for an efficient scaling up of SWC technologies, under different agroecosystems in Tunisia. This technical guideline is fulfilled in the framework of the SWC @Scale project that has concentrated its efforts and investments in two different sites in Tunisia (Northwest, Siliana, and Central west, Kairouan).

In desert farming, water use efficiency is crucial for all plants including agroforestry crops such as date palm which are highly adapted to the desert ecosystems. To respond to the water use efficiency requirement in desert farming, innovation packages (Genetic, biophysical, and managerial) have been developed and deployed. Subsurface drip irrigation is one of such innovations. The system aims at minimizing water loss through evaporation, percolation and run of by directly delivering the water to the root zone. Subsurface irrigation is an improvement over the micro catchments established around the date palm trees. ICARDA and NARS partners in the Arabian Peninsula demonstrated that subsurface drip irrigation can save water in date palm production compared to conventional flood, drip, and bubbler irrigation systems Further improvement on sub surface irrigation is • Use of Ultra Low-Pressure Drippers (ULPD) to minimize energy consumption and facilitate us of solar energy • Placement of the ULPD within perforated tubes facilitating moisture distribution while preventing clogging

Control environment agriculture (CEA) is a key pillar of desert farming in desert farming. The main technical problem of conventional greenhouses is maintaining the inside air temperatures and relative humidity favourable for plant growth under desert farming system. The evaporative cooling system is widely used in the desert ecosystems with low efficiency due to the extreme temperature and relative humidity in the coastal areas. Moreover, the evaporative cooling system requires large amounts of water and grid energy which is not available in the desert ecosystems. Soilless production system enhances yield and water productivity. Nevertheless, greenhouse technology in these hot arid areas will need to overcome the evaporative cooling system constraints in the conventional greenhouses. ICARDA and national partners developed and tested a five combined technology package, namely closed hydroponic system, net house, ultra-low-pressure drippers, root zone cooling, and low-cost solar energy. Advantages: • Eliminate evaporative cooling system saving 85% of water used in greenhouse operation • Saving: 80% and 100% energy in the Hybrid and off-grid solar energy powered net houses • Extend the production period of net-house without quantitative and qualitative yield penalties • Enhance yield and quality of production compared to normal net-house • Significantly reduce the establishment and running cost compared to cooled greenhouses Two options of low-cost solar energy technologies, namely AC/DC hybrid and 100% off-grid are available in the market now (figure1 and Figure2). Utilizing solar energy reduces the running cost and CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. In UAE, a study on cucumber production under net-house with solar energy powered RZC resulted in: • Extending cucumber production until mid-June without quantitative and qualitative yield penalties • Water productivity per crop reached 37kg/m3 compared to 8 kg/m3 in a cooled greenhouse • 14% increase in net return and a 28% reduction in the cost of production • Saving 6650-kWh electricity, equivalent to 4.7 metric tons of Co2 sequestration.

The aim of this R4D Initiatives is to explore the profitability of manufactured feed pellets for small-scale crop-livestock farmers in Tunisia. During the past few growing seasons, within several R4D initiatives and projects (the SWC@Scale as part of the global GIZ ProSol Program; the CRP-Livestock “feed and forages”, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) funded CLCA phase 2), ICARDA and its national partners have introduced imported feed pellet machines that were donated with a 10% financial contribution (to ensure strong ownership of the technology) to some pre-selected professional farmer organizations (FO) (SMSA and GDA5) and individual farmers including agri-preneurs, with the idea of developing small feed businesses using these machines and boosting the nutrition of local herds. After assessing the available feed resources for each region (Northern, Center, and Southern), the leading members of each FO, under the supervision of the project’s scientific teams, developed various feeding formulas. Other farmers have been developing their own formulas based on consultation with local extension agents. Some of the formulas used by farmers are still under experimentation and will be the subject of this brief, aiming at validating their economic viabilities.