The objective of TCP is to "define a strategy and plan of action for the integration of rural women written into the 9th five-year plan for the economic and social development of the agricultural and rural sector". The project is based on the following needs:
· ensure that the "gender" dimension is included in the orientations, programmes and activities of the agricultural sector: women must be considered as fully-fledged socio-economic agents and taken into account in decisions related to the priorities of rural development and in the identification of objectives, programmes and activities;
· complete agricultural statistics in order to gauge the importance of women's economic contributions to the agricultural sector and to fix a situation of reference for the evaluation of the effects of development measures on the situation of women;
· follow up6 reflection with women and rural communities in cooperation with contributors to local development, including NGOs, in order to formulate strategies, programmes and activities;
· respond to different requests of the Tunisian government related to better taking into account women in agricultural statistics and defining a programme in favour of fisherwomen and women concerned about the exploitation of agro-forestry resources.
The following activities have already been carried out:
· support for the Directorate-General of Planning and Investment in the Ministry of Agriculture for the formulation of gender-sensitive orientations in the 9th Plan regarding the agricultural and rural sector;
· the design and implementation of a statistical survey, to:
· measure the economic contribution of women in the agricultural sector;
· create an informatic statistical database on rural women in agriculture;
· a documentary synthesis of the multiple sources of written information, complemented by sector-based studies;
· the identification of support projects for women through analyses and participatory diagnosis in three specific directions recognized for the importance women play in their implementation:
· agro-forestry: the sector of Tbaïnia at Aïn Draham in the north-west;
· irrigated agriculture: the sector of Hichria at Sidi Bouzid in the centre;
· clam fishing: the sector of Zarat at Mareth-Gabès in the south.
These activities were preparatory for activities in course or planned for the future:
· definition of a strategy for the integration of women in agriculture written into the sectoral plan of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the formulation of programme lines for:
· development of and support for production channels in which women are active agents;
· the creation of accompanying measures to support women in their activities: credit, training, popularization, technological support, organization of groupings;
· the organization and setting up of institutional support measures, that is the creation of a qualified structural element, at all levels of the Ministry of Agriculture (central and regional) to oversee respect for gender issues in strategies, programmes and activities;
· dissemination of the results of project activities: media campaign and national workshop for the release of results.
6 In the preparation of the national report on rural women produced for the Beijing Conference, analysis of the situation and perspectives of activities was carried out with rural women and development contributors
