2023-09-27 22:30:24
Over the past ten years, permaculture has been gaining ground among small farmers and new farmers who are trying to create crops less dependent on water and more adapted to Tunisian environmental changes. The objective: to guarantee food self-sufficiency on their scale, but also to be able to make a living from their agriculture, a sector which represents 10% of GDP in Tunisia and is made up of 80% small family-run farmers.
From our correspondent in Tunis,
Arriving at the farm of Amine Ben Abdallah, a cereal farmer, regarding sixty kilometers from Tunis, the contrast is striking: his crops are already green despite a scorching summer. Opposite, fields of wheat spread out along the slopes of the hills are completely dry.
« When we started farming in 2007, it was a cereal field, with dead soil, that is to say without biological activity and which only worked if we applied tons of fertilizers and products. chemicals and little by little, as you see, we started to rework, explains the farmer. And the first thing we did was terraces, large earthworks to avoid water gullying, to be able to retain water, organic matter, and create micro-climates then start planting. trees online,” explains Amine Ben Abdallah.
« Opposite is a desert! »
These agro-ecological and agro-forestry techniques have enabled it to continue to ensure cereal production even though this year, the northwest of the country was seriously affected by drought. The cereal harvest fell by 66% nationally. “ We now continue to make cereals between the rows of trees, on the terraces. We can already see that the grass that remains is very important, there is a lot of organic matter while the field opposite is a desert. », notes the farmer. The field opposite is that of his neighbor who works in conventional agriculture. “ Every year, I see his land with water which, with each heavy rain, goes into the river below, gullies, erodes and gradually the yields fall », Continues Amine Ben Abdallah.
South of Tunis, Slim Zarrouk is also experimenting with eco-responsible agriculture on old family land, on the El Berima farm. “ It wasn’t a choicehe specifies. I had a fire eight years ago and at the time, I was interested in permaculture. It was just a lemon orchard. I decided to diversify a little and apply the principles of permaculture. And that’s how it all started. So here, we have all the strata. We have the canopy, with a forest tree here. »
A tree without fruit, but which serves to fix nitrogen in the soil or as fodder. At the foot of certain crops, sheepskins, organic matter and mulch to protect the soil. He and Amine try to make a living from the products of their farm, selling directly to the consumer via the Tunisian Permaculture Association which trains Tunisians wishing to engage in this type of farming.
Also listenWhat is permaculture?
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