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    Talking with a farmer, Kairouan plain, Tunisia.

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    Olive grove being prepared for intercropping, Kairouan plain, Tunisia

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    Olive grove with annual intercrops, Kairouan plain, Tunisia (photo: O. Grunberger)

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    Olive grove with intercropped annuals, Kairouan plain, Tunisia (photo: O. Grunberger)

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    The VIANA team with a farmer, Kairouan plain, Tunisia

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    Olive grove, Tunisia

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    Olive trees and cereals, Tunisia

The VIANA project

Vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities of Irrigated Agriculture in North Africa

Irrigated agriculture is a major feature of the Mediterranean basin, and has expanded tremendously in the past decades, through access to a previously untapped resource, groundwater. VIANA extends previous research on vulnerabilities of irrigated agriculture in North Africa, by characterizing potentially existing local agroecological solutions and understanding the context in which such practices have emerged or been adopted. Using the lens of vulnerability and adaptive capacity, and assuming that, locally, strong capacities of adaptations and innovations developed by farmers exist, the objective of this project is to identify, characterize and co-evaluate existing adaptations and lower-input systems developed by actors at different scales (plots, farms and irrigated territory) to deal with these vulnerabilities. The project will, in particular, focus on characterizing local farming practices with a potential to maintain overall productivity of irrigated territories while improving environmental sustainability, focusing in particular on on-farm improved efficiency of input uses, water efficient cropping systems, and crop-animal diversification strategies. The project involves three contrasted groundwater-irrigated territories in North Africa: the Saïs plain in Morocco, the Haut-Chéliff plain in Algeria, and the Kairouan plain in Tunisia.

Project financed through ERA-Net ARIMNet
Duration : 3 ans (April 2018-March 2021)
Project coordinator : Crystele LEAUTHAUD (CIRAD)
arimnet