Sustainable Goat Farming in Southeastern Tunisia: Challenges and Opportunities for Profitability
Rihab Day (),
Aziza Mohamed-Brahmi,
Fatma Aribi and
Mohamed Jaouad
Additional contact information
Rihab Day: Research Laboratory: Support for the Sustainability of Agricultural Production in the Northwestern Region, Higher School of Agriculture of Kef, University of Jendouba, Le Kef 7119, Tunisia
Aziza Mohamed-Brahmi: Research Laboratory: Support for the Sustainability of Agricultural Production in the Northwestern Region, Higher School of Agriculture of Kef, University of Jendouba, Le Kef 7119, Tunisia
Fatma Aribi: Laboratory of Rural Economy and Society (LESOR), Arid Regions Institute of Medenine (IRA), Djorf Road Km 22.5, Medenine 4119, Tunisia
Mohamed Jaouad: Laboratory of Rural Economy and Society (LESOR), Arid Regions Institute of Medenine (IRA), Djorf Road Km 22.5, Medenine 4119, Tunisia
Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-25
Abstract:
Goat farming represents a critical component of rural livelihoods, food security, and cultural heritage in southeastern Tunisia. This study adopts a multi-stakeholder approach to analyze the goat value chain in Tataouine, incorporating focus groups, semi-structured questionnaires, and direct observations with 80 farmers, 3 veterinarians, 13 butchers, and 100 consumers. The findings reveal strong local demand, with 72% of consumers purchasing goat meat and 66% consuming milk. However, significant inefficiencies exist, particularly a misalignment between production and market requirements: while 92% of butchers prefer fattened animals, only 16% of farmers engage in fattening practices. Women constitute 49% of dairy processors, yet face persistent resource constraints. Climate pressures exacerbate these challenges, with 80% of farmers reporting water scarcity and 93.8% observing pasture degradation. Three strategic interventions emerge as pivotal for sustainable development: targeted support for feed-efficient fattening techniques, establishment of women-led dairy processing collectives, and implementation of climate-resilient water management systems. These measures address core constraints while leveraging existing strengths of the production system. The study presents a transferable framework for livestock value chain analysis in arid regions, demonstrating how integrated approaches can enhance both economic viability and adaptive capacity while preserving traditional pastoral systems.
Keywords: goat farming; sustainability; value chain; socio-economic impact; southeastern Tunisia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3669/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3669/ (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3669-:d:1637534
Access Statistics for this article
Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu
More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().