Assessment of sustainability in organic and conventional farms in Tunisia: The case of olive-growing farms in the region of Sfax

This research has been carried out to study the sustainability of the Tunisian olive-growing farms and to compare the sustainability level of organic with conventional farms. A survey was conducted with 62 olive growers in the region of Sfax in Tunisia. First, a diagnosis of the situation of the farms was undertaken comparing between organic and conventional farms. Second, an empirical analysis was achieved to asses the sustainability of organic farms versus conventional farms following the French “IDEA” method developed by Vilain [1] 1. The “IDEA” indicators showed a greater ranking for the organic farms. The analysis indicated the sustainability of organic farming on the three scales adopted; ecological scale, through the soil fertility and reduction of pollution, socio-territorial scale through employment creation, reinforcement of the spirit of collective work and the products quality, and finally on the economic scale by enhancing profitability, responding to demand and prices allowing organic farming adopters to reach better incomes.