2017
Start of the partnership between GDAEBN and Fert
GDAEBN – Northern Sheep Farmers’ Agricultural Development Group
Developing services for sheep farmers and strengthening the sustainability of the organization
ANNUAL BUDGET:
50,000 €
Context
In northern Tunisia, sheep farming is an essential source of income for farmers with limited arable land. For cereal farmers with larger areas of land, sheep farming also helps make use of crop residues, integrate forage crops into rotations, and maintain year-round employment.
However, all these livestock farmers face growing constraints, including drought, declining forage availability, rising input costs, animal health issues, and extreme heat. These challenges weaken both the performance and profitability of livestock farms.
Created in 2011, GDAEBN now brings together around one hundred sheep farmers. Its mission is to provide members with the services they need for their livestock activities and to defend the livestock farming profession and products from the sector. In particular, it develops services for flock advisory and monitoring, mechanical shearing, and genetic improvement of the local Noire de Thibar and Sicilo-Sarde breeds.
Fert has supported GDAEBN since 2017 to strengthen its services, organization and sustainability, and to help it respond more effectively to the economic and climate-related challenges faced by livestock farmers.
Partnership Objectives
- Consolidate and develop advisory, training and experimentation services
- Manage genetic selection schemes to improve sheep performance
- Strengthen collective organization to contribute, to the development of the value chain and the local area
Key moments
Our Impact
210,000
sheep shorn since the shearing service was launched in 2012
8,300
genetic evaluations provided since the introduction of the new protocols in 2023, enabling more informed herd replacement decisions
+ 2 %
increase in the weight of Noire de Thibar lambs at 30 days over three production cycles
+ 12
percentage points in the prolificacy rate of Noire de Thibar ewes over three production cycles
+ 24 %
increase in milk produced per lactation by Sicilo-Sarde ewes over three production cycles
Key Results in 2025
✦ 18,700 sheep shorn in 2025, with 64 livestock farmers using the service
✦ 14 subscriptions to genetic services during the 2025–2026 season
✦ 70 rams and 100 ewes underwent genomic analysis as part of a partnership with INRAT to improve breeding management
✦ Launch of a project on artificial insemination, in collaboration with ICARDA and OEP, to improve the performance of the Sicilian-Sardinian breed: 150 sponge insertions, inseminations, and ultrasounds
“Even though the genetic selection schemes are still being developed, the initial results we (the breeder-selection farmers) have received reassures us that we are on the right track. These genetic indicators are already important to us and are helping us make better decisions within our own farms.”
