For the past five years Abderrazzak Sibri hasn’t harvested a single olive from the 357 olive trees on his land in Sidi Mahmoud, a rural town in the province of Kairouan (central Tunisia). Sibri had planned to plant more olive trees, but lack of rain, several years of draughts and decreased ground water levels impacted production and changed his plans. “What bothers me most is that I have been investing in these trees,” he says. “When they finally reach the age in which they can produce regularly and abundantly, there is no more water to keep them growing.”
Water scarcity in Tunisia: the threat of food insecurity
Farmers have been ruined, lands abandoned. Agricultural zones that were still flourishing just five years ago have since dried up. Water scarcity caused by climate change and rising temperatures has a direct impact to bear on Tunisia’s food security—far more than the conflict in Ukraine. Report.
Pénurie d’eau en Tunisie: Le spectre de l’insécurité alimentaire
Des agriculteurs sont ruinés, des terres abandonnées, tandis que des zones agricoles encore prospères il y a cinq ans à peine, sont asséchées. La raréfaction de l’eau, induite par le changement climatique et la hausse des températures, affecte directement la sécurité alimentaire des Tunisiens. Bien plus que le conflit en Ukraine. Reportage.