Improving Agricultural Market Performance:
Creation and Development of Market Institutions
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other jobs or combining other jobs with their farming activities, impeding the overall efficiency
of Tunisia’s agricultural sector.
The creation of a new market institution may contribute to addressing this bottleneck. Such a
market institutions would be responsible for registering and authorizing farmers and, hence,
would be capable of monitoring, measuring, and evaluating the performance of the agricultural
market system through collecting, analyzing, and disseminating market intelligence based on
farmers’ registrations.
Apart from this bottleneck related to the absence of farmer authorization, bottlenecks exists
for a number of crops, products and commodity groups. For a number of these, a need exists to
create specific market institutions with the objective to provide market intelligence,
information, and data, promote and market the specific products, and provide assistance to
manage risks and instable price levels. Market institutions need to support commercialization
and valorization of these crops, products, and commodity groups.207
Such relatively untapped opportunities exist for products related to the Mediterranean diet
(e.g. horticulture, vegetable oils, dairy products, and processed vegetables). Furthermore, with
127 aromatic and medicinal plants, considerable opportunities exist for essential oils and figs
used for the perfume industry, just as with regards to spontaneous species, and prickly pear-
based pharmaceutical products. A marketing board specifically focusing on Mediterranean-
style products could be established while some oil-related products could be covered by the
mandate of the existing ONH.
Organic farming and Halal products are emerging sectors given an increased demand,
particularly in the nearby EU market.208 The creation of marketing boards related to organic
farming as well as Halal products should specifically support exports of organic farming and
Halal products through the provision of real-life information on global prices to local farmers.
These marketing boards should furthermore focus on optimizing the performance of the
market by providing assistance on developing and obtaining organic farming and Halal
product certification. This could be done in collaboration with INNOPRI, APIA, CEPEX, and
Tunisia’s certification and inspection bodies (e.g. ECOCERT, IMC, LACON, BCS, and BCUPA).
INNOPRI has developed Halal labels and labels for the location and production process but this
is needed for more commodities to protect Tunisia’s specific agricultural commodities from
being re-produced elsewhere (e.g. Harissa) and improve traceability of its products. This
requires the development of certification systems which recognize the protected designation
of origin, such as the EU’s certification schemes of geographical indications and traditional
specialties or “appellation d'origine contrôlée” in France. Other examples could relate to
corporate social responsibility certifications, such as “eco-friendly”, “social peace” (e.g.
referring to Tunisia’s Nobel Price), and “women-friendly” product certifications. Ideally, these
certifications are matched with Tunisia’s branding.
Newly created marketing boards should have an inter-professional approach. For instance,
eco-tourism and oil-related tourism initiatives are also emerging as a result of Tunisia’s strong
207 Interview conducted with Institution de Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles in Tunis, May 15, 2017
208 European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry (2013), Business Opportunities in the Mediterranean – focus on agri-
food in Tunisia, available a Accessed May 2017].