TUNISIA: MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE PLEDGES

UNCLAS TUNIS 000799 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG (HAYES),EEB/TPP/MTAA/ABT (PLOWDEN) STATE PASS USTR (BURKHEAD) AND USAID (MCCLOUD) USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/ONE (MASON),ADVOCACY CTR (TABINE),AND CLDP (TEJTEL AND MCMANUS) RABAT FOR AG ATTACHE AHMED CASABLANCA FOR FCS (KITSON) CAIRO FOR SPEAKS/O'DOWD LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHERS OES (SENSENEY AND LAWRENCE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EAID TS SUBJECT: TUNISIA: MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE PLEDGES COOPERATION REF: A. TUNIS 781 ¶B. STATE 107298 ¶C. TUNIS 757 ¶D. TUNIS 507 Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The Ambassador and Tunisian Minister of Agriculture Abdessalem Mansour discussed expanding bilateral agriculture cooperation through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) covering cereal production, dairy and meat production, and tree crops. The Government of Tunisia's (GOT) top priority on agriculture is to become self-sufficient in grains, Mansour asserted. Expanding U.S.-Tunisian cooperation on agriculture would help implement the goals of President Obama's Cairo speech as well as the Secretary's initiative on Partnering for Food Security. End summary. -------------- Room for Cooperation on a Key Economic Sector -------------- ¶2. (U) The Ambassador paid a courtesy call on Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Abdessalem Mansour October ¶30. Mansour opened by summarizing Tunisia's agriculture sector, pointing to its key role in the Tunisian economy. Agriculture represents between 12 and 13 percent of GDP, and up to 18 percent including income from the broader agribusiness sector. The sector employs between 16 and 18 percent of Tunisia's total work force and creates 10 percent of exports and 10 percent of total investment. ¶3. (U) Mansour explained that the Agriculture Ministry's key goal was self-sufficiency in cereals, particularly in the soft wheat used to make bread. While Tunisia is at times a net exporter of durum wheat (used for pasta and couscous), production of soft wheat rarely meets domestic demand. The Ministry seeks to expand wheat production through more intensive cultivation on existing plots (via irrigation) and by expanding wheat production into dry and marginal areas. ¶4. (SBU) Mansour proposed to deepen U.S.-Tunisian agricultural cooperation through increased exchanges and technical cooperation. He promised to submit a draft MOU to the Embassy in the coming weeks that would cover cereals, dairy and meat production, and tree crops. Mansour also expressed interest in expanding U.S. investment in Tunisian agriculture, pointing to the potential to reach European markets via EU-Tunisian trade agreements currently under negotiation. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The Ministry of Agriculture currently participates in USDA-sponsored training programs such as the Cochran Fellowship Program and the Norman Borlaug Fellowship Science and Technology Program. We believe that expanding agricultural cooperation with Tunisia would help fulfill one of the goals of President Obama's June 4 Cairo speech (ref D),as well as the Partnering for Food Security initiative outlined by the Secretary in September (refs A and B). In addition, agricultural cooperation is one part of the 2004 U.S.-Tunisia Science and Technology Agreement, which the GOT has indicated it intends to ratify soon (ref C). We will continue to report progress on this potentially important area of bilateral engagement. End comment. GRAY