The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is improving access to irrigation water for more than 6,800 farmers and their families, with a €49 million loan to the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydraulic Resources and Fisheries in Tunisia.
The funds will help to restore and rehabilitate the ageing water infrastructure serving 37 oases in the country’s southern governorates of Gabès, Gafsa, Kebili and Tozeur. The oases are the primary source of employment and income in the region, with irrigated agriculture providing jobs to 35 per cent of the working population.
In addition, thanks to the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the project will include a programme focusing on enhancing economic opportunities for women and young people in the oases.
Since the start of its operations in Tunisia in 2012, the EBRD has invested more than €1.3 billion across 55 projects in the country, in both the private and public sectors.
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