The Impact of a Rainwater Harvesting Project on Farming System: Case Study of Oued Soukra Watershed – Tunisia

Abstract

Since the last decades natural regions of Southern Tunisia are being faced to a severe degradation of water and soil resources. This phenomenon is in continuous progress due to the importance of irrational human activities coupled with the extreme climatic conditions. To deal with this situation, Tunisian government has implemented a national plan for soil and water conservation consisting in technical, agronomical and legislative actions for soil and water management.  This paper presents the impact of the management of Oued Soukra watershed on Land use in the framework of this strategy. Many techniques have been used to assess land use change and its effect on farmers' income and life level: Remote sensing and Geographic information system for map generation, questionnaire and literature review for socio-economical evaluation of agrarian reforms. This study shows that cereal and fruit trees area has increased respectively by 130% and 69% whereas an important regression was noted for rangelands 36%. Moreover clear diversifications of cropping systems (new fruit trees including pistachio, vegetable crops) have been noticed. These results haves been retrieved from maps and confirmed by onsite survey done with local farmers.