Lors du Vendredi Découverte du vendredi 26 septembre 2025, Sarra Kekli nous a présenté : "Exploring the Water Rebound Effect: Policy Interactions in Tunisia’s Agricultural Sector”.
Résumé : Tunisia faces increasing water scarcity, shaped in part by a historically supply-driven water mobilisation strategy that has prioritized large-scale infrastructure projects—such as dams and groundwater extraction—to support agricultural expansion and export-oriented production. Since the 1990s, the country has introduced a range of economic instruments intended to promote more sustainable water use, including subsidies for efficient irrigation technologies and pricing mechanisms. Over the same period, public investment in the agricultural and water sectors has steadily increased, alongside a continued rise in water extraction, particularly for irrigation.
To better understand the dynamics behind these trends, this study explores the Water Rebound Effect (WRE) in Tunisia using a consumer theory framework, drawing on concepts such as substitution and income effects to interpret producers’ adoption of irrigation technologies. This theoretical perspective is complemented by a historical review of Tunisia’s water governance as well as its agricultural and trade policy instruments, with a focus on their alignment with sustainable water resource management, including key legislation such as the 1975 Water Code and the 1993 Investment Code.
In this context, this study aims to examine whether the trajectory of agricultural intensification and water use in Tunisia since 1990 may reflect rebound effect mechanisms, particularly in relation to policies promoting efficient irrigation technologies.
