Tunisian Oasis System:Between the Traditional and the Modern, Case Study of Kébili Region, Tunisia

It must be emphasized that the agrarian system the most common and important in Tunisian southern is the oasis system, with various types of oases. Despite this diversity, these oases are often classified into two categories according to many criteria to traditional and modern. In light of the sustainability of oasis society, it is necessary to assess the rationality of modern and traditional oasis in the context of both natural and economic environment. This paper aims to compare the assessment of two oases in Kébili region as a case study: Mouthabara as a modern oasis and Souk Baez as a traditional one. For that aim we exhausted farmers’ survey was done in terms of organization, irrigation, culture system, yield, commercialization, varieties… so on, in order to verify the criteria of this classification.

The results show some criterion is not fulfilled, putting into question these criteria.