"Towards Sustainable Soil Management in the Face of Climatic Hazards: Assessment of Water Erosion in the Semi-Arid Tunisian Zone"

The update of the SWC planning study for the Kairouan Governorate is part of the Watershed Management Framework Financing (FCGBV) project and the implementation of the national Water and Soil Conservation (WSC) strategy. This strategy, whose primary objective is the conservation and enhancement of natural resources, is based on the integration of SWC projects into agricultural development projects and on a participatory approach in the development of SWC management plans. For the Kairouan Governorate, areas moderately and highly susceptible to erosion represent approximately 250,000 ha, or 38% of the governorate’s total area. Existing SWC developments cover 153,000 ha, representing a development rate of 61%. This figure does not include traditional developments (tabias) carried out by farmers, which results in a higher development rate. Existing SWC developments in the Kairouan Governorate consist primarily of mechanical dikes and river structures, with 71 hillside lakes and 22 hillside dams. Given the scale and nature of existing SWC projects in the governorate, the average volume of water that can be mobilized by these various projects has been estimated at approximately 32 million cubic meters per year. The implementation of the SWC development plan selected for the Kairouan Governorate requires the mobilization of various material and financial resources, which largely determine its implementation schedule.