Press release number: IFAD 28/03

Tunis-Rome, Friday, 4 July 2003 – Joint efforts by IFAD and the Government of Tunisia to achieve the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the number of extremely poor people by 2015 will be discussed during a two-day meeting in Tunis next week, organized by the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Development and International Cooperation, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The meeting, to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday 8 and 9 July, will be attended by high level experts and staff of the two ministries, and representatives of IFAD, other international development organizations, Tunisian non-governmental organizations and the community. They will discuss the results of a comprehensive evaluation of IFAD’s work programme in Tunisia, that was conducted over the past year. The final agreement reached by the meeting will form the basis of a new and more effective IFAD Country Strategy for rural poverty eradication in Tunisia, within the framework of the country’s 10th Development Plan.

The strong performance of Tunisia’s economy over the past 20 years, combined with development efforts such as IFAD’s programme, has led to a significant reduction in poverty levels in the country. However, substantial disparities remain between the urbanized coastal regions and those most disadvantaged in the central part of the country. While the total number of farms has increased, 53 percent of them are less than five hectares. A new strategy for faster growth of the rural economy will help reduce these disparities by increasing employment opportunities in rural areas and strengthening the capacity of rural communities to deal with drought and environmental degradation.

Since 1981, about seven percent of Tunisia’s rural population, or more than 230,000 people, have benefited from IFAD’s programme in Tunisia, which has included nine projects worth a total of US$ 289.85 million in the provinces of Kef and Siliana, Sidi Bouzid, Oued Mellegue, Sidi M’Hadheb, Kairouan, Siliana, Zaghouan and Tataouine. IFAD’s investment in the programme has totaled US$114.7 million.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries. Since 1978, IFAD has financed 625 projects in 115 countries and in the West Bank and Gaza for a total commitment of approximately USD 7.9 billion in loans and grants. Through these projects, about 250 million rural people have been supported in their efforts to overcome poverty.