In Tunisia, the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP) approved on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, Article 135 authorizing farmers to use drones to spray products over agricultural land. The objective is to ensure faster and more efficient intervention while protecting crops, provided that operators obtain the necessary permits from the relevant authorities.
This positive development is expected to have a beneficial impact on the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors, which together account for around 10% of the country’s GDP, generating an annual added value of between USD 3.8 billion and USD 4.8 billion.
Some farmers have already anticipated the formalization of a legal framework governing drone use in agricultural operations. At the institutional level, the African Development Bank (AfDB), in partnership with the Tunisian government and the Korea-Africa Economic Fund (KOAFEC), launched in 2018 a pilot program for the deployment of agricultural drones. In addition, a pilot initiative in Sidi Bouzid introduced drone use in the farming sector and trained 42 Tunisian drone operators.
The adoption of drones in agriculture has demonstrated its effectiveness in boosting agricultural added value in several countries. It provides considerable benefits in monitoring, diagnosis and targeted intervention.
Drones are used for remote sensing and mapping of farmland, precision spreading and spraying, as well as monitoring and tracking crop development.
For a country like Tunisia, which faces significant water stress, drones contribute to resilience during periods of drought by optimizing irrigation, fertilization and crop protection treatments. Studies have shown that drone-based irrigation can use less than 20 liters of water per hectare, compared with nearly 300 liters required by traditional methods.
Drones also feed automatic damage detection algorithms and help improve crop health by detecting issues such as fires, illegal deforestation and disease. They reduce production costs, limit losses and improve profit margins as early as the first season.
The newly adopted article, included within the 2026 Finance Law, will open new horizons for young Tunisians by creating job opportunities through the recruitment of drone operators. Short, targeted training programs could rapidly provide qualified profiles for this emerging profession.
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