Understanding land users’ livelihoods and their strategies is essential in order to adapt prevention and adaptation policies and to ensure sustainable land management (SLM) planning. Considering the global call for SLM, and due to a lack of studies on land degradation (LD) in Tunisia, we aimed to explore the livelihoods of farmers, their livelihoods strategies and perceptions about LD and land management, in order to design SLM in rural areas in Tunisia. We used the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) to analyse the livelihoods assets, livelihoods strategies, and the perceptions of people about LD and SLM. Through structured interviews with 90 households, we collected both quantitative and qualitative data on household assets, strategies, and perceptions. Results indicate variation in the status of livelihoods among households, which influences their livelihoods strategies and consequently livelihoods outcomes. When facing environmental issues, farm households apply various livelihoods strategies to shield themselves from negative impacts and shocks. Our study revealed that farmers in the high-livelihoods-assets category chose economic returns over environmental benefits. Farmers in the low-livelihoods-assets category have generated livelihoods strategies that lead to inappropriate management strategies due to low access to assets and, as a result, contributed to LD. This is because these farmers are more concerned about the immediate constraints of their livelihoods and subsistence than the medium and long-term sustainable land management. Compared to the other two groups, farmers in the medium-livelihoods assets category have the best perceptions and flexibility for SLM compared to the other two categories. Thus, as the quality of land is highly dependent on the way it is managed, environmental and land management planning, and policies should not only consider the rehabilitation of land but also require a better understanding of the livelihoods, strategies and perceptions of people as these remain key drivers that affect land condition.

为了适应预防和适应政策并确保可持续土地管理（SLM）规划，了解土地使用者的生计及其策略至关重要。考虑到全球对SLM的呼吁，并且由于在突尼斯缺乏对土地退化（LD）的研究，我们旨在探索农民的生计，他们的生计策略以及对LD和土地管理的认识，以便设计农村地区的SLM突尼斯地区。我们使用可持续生计方法（SLA）分析了生计资产，生计策略以及人们对LD和SLM的看法。通过对90户家庭的结构化访谈，我们收集了有关家庭资产，策略和看法的定量和定性数据。结果表明，家庭之间的生计状况存在差异，这会影响他们的生计策略，进而影响生计结果。面对环境问题时，农户采用各种生计策略来保护自己免受负面影响和冲击。我们的研究表明，高生计资产类别的农民选择经济回报而不是环境收益。处于低生计资产类别的农民产生了生计策略，由于无法获得资产，导致了不适当的管理策略，因此对LD有所贡献。这是因为与中长期可持续土地管理相比，这些农民更加关注生计和生存的直接限制。与其他两组相比 与其他两个类别相比，中等生计资产类别的农民对可持续土地管理具有最好的认识和灵活性。因此，由于土地质量在很大程度上取决于土地的管理方式，因此环境和土地管理规划以及政策不仅应考虑土地的恢复，而且还需要更好地了解人们的生计，策略和看法。仍然是影响土地状况的关键驱动力。