Tunisian ‘hanging backyard’ farms cling on regardless of drought

High within the hills of northwestern Tunisia, farmers are tending hundreds of fig timber with a singular system of terracing they hope will shield them from ever-harsher droughts.

But the “hanging gardens” of Djebba El Olia have been put to the check this 12 months because the North African nation sweltered by way of its hottest July because the Fifties.

That has exacerbated a protracted drought that has left Tunisia’s reservoirs at only a third of their capability.

The gardens are equipped with water from two springs excessive within the mountains.

The water is fed into the orchards by a community of canals which might be opened and shut at set instances, based on the scale of the orchard.

Crucially, all kinds of crops supplies resilience and in-built pest management, in contrast to the monocultures that dominate fashionable agriculture and require enormous inputs of pesticides to outlive.

“We grow figs but also other trees like quinces, olives and pomegranates, and beneath them we plant a wide range of greens and legumes,” mentioned activist Farida Djebbi as bugs buzzed between thyme, mint and rosemary flowers.

Djebbi identified a number of the channels, which irrigate the world’s 300 hectares (740 acres) of steeply sloping orchards.

In 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization recognised the system for instance of “innovative and resilient agroforestry”, including it to an elite checklist of simply 67 “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems”.

The system “has been able to adapt and take advantage of an inhospitable topography”, the UN company mentioned.

“Through the use of natural geological formations and the use of stones, local communities have been able to transform the landscape into fertile and productive lands.”

The FAO praised the variety of native crop varieties grown by the world’s farmers, in addition to their use of untamed crops to repel potential pests and of livestock to “plough” and fertilise the soil.

Growing up with figs

While no person is aware of precisely how previous the system is, human habitation within the space predates the Carthaginian civilisation based within the ninth century BC.

But whereas it could have endured for generations, the system is underneath menace as climate change kicks in.

Activist Tawfiq El Rajehi, 60, says the circulate of water from springs irrigating the world has dropped off noticeably, notably up to now two years.

Unlike in earlier years, the encircling peaks not get coated in snow every winter, and the leaves of most of the timber within the decrease a part of Djebba are yellowing and sick.

Rajehi, a trainer on the native faculty, mentioned local weather change and low rainfall had been compounded by one other issue: farmers favouring money crops.

“Some farmers have moved to growing more figs instead of less water-intensive crops because figs have become more profitable in recent years,” he mentioned.

“We need to keep a good balance and variety of plants.”

Nevertheless, residents say they’re pleased with their heritage.

Farmer Lotfi El Zarmani, 52, mentioned there was additionally rising demand for Djebba figs, which got a protected designation of origin by the agriculture ministry in 2012—nonetheless the one Tunisian fruit to benefit from the certification.

“They’re getting a reputation, plus exporting them has become easier, plus they bring higher prices,” Zarmani mentioned, including that almost all exports go to the Gulf or neighbouring Libya.

Rajehi’s daughter, college scholar Chaima, placed on protecting gloves as she got down to harvest the fruit from her household’s small lot.

“Figs are more than a fruit for us. We’re born here among the fig trees and we grow up with them, we learn from a young age how to look after them,” the 20-year-old mentioned.

Djebbi is working to influence farmers to protect conventional methods of processing the merchandise harvested within the space.

She is working with 10 different ladies on a cooperative that distils essence from wildflowers, dries figs, and produces fig and mulberry jam.

“Products we learnt how to make from our mothers and grandmothers are becoming popular because they’re of such high quality,” she mentioned.

© 2022 AFP