Tunisia’s agricultural sector won the Special Prize of the Best Performance for 2020 in the 33rd African Union Summit held on February 9-10 in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.

The prize is awarded to countries which have been able to implement the Malabo Declaration on the Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods in Africa.

Agricultural output is key to the Tunisian economy, accounting for 12 to 16 percent of the GDP.

Launched in 2014 at the end of the 23rd ordinary session of the Arab-African Summit in Equatorial Guinea, the Malabo Declaration calls for increasing investment in agriculture through the African continent.

Tunisian officials have welcomed the recognition, attributing it to the country’s farmers.

“This is an important achievement for Tunisia. The state, the Ministry of Agriculture and tens of thousands of farmers have contributed to this success,” said Samir Bettaieb, Tunisia’s minister of agriculture.

Bettaieb noted that an increase in investment would help boost research, productivity and quality in the sector. He added that this would also create thousands of new jobs in the country.