Tunisia is currently ranked second to Mauritius as the most liberal economy in Africa. Lacking substantial natural resources such as oil or minerals, Tunisia set about making the most of whatever advantage it had and also converting minuses into pluses. Part of our strength lies in the fact that we do not depend exclusively on the export of primary raw materials and do not suffer from excessive foreign debt. This desire for self-sufficiency translates into the ingenious use and careful husbanding of whatever resources are available. Tunisia has only 5m hectares of arable land distributed over a wide area in the north and central regions.
Agriculture is very rain dependent and production can vary considerably year to year.
A series of cleverly contrived systems allows 340,000 hectares to be irrigated. By 2006, an additional 60,000 hectares will be under irrigation. Although Tunisia does not have the Nile, it has the desert. More than half the country is, in fact, desert. This minus has been turned into a plus by aggressively developing tourism in the south.