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Intro

Tunisia is among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and it is one of the countries most affected by the negative repercussions of climate change in the level of rainwater scarcity, decline in water resources, in addition to drought, desertification, etc.

The groups most affected by the effects of these climate changes are the vulnerable groups, that is, farmers, especially women working in the agricultural sector, who represent 80% of the number of workers in the agricultural sector, with a number of more than 600 thousand women.

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Intro

Given the importance of this topic, we decided at AlQatiba web-magazine to devote an important part of our work, within the framework of our strategy for the coming years, to focus on the issue of climate change and its effects from various aspects.

During the past year, we addressed climate change from three angles, but in this intervention I will focus on two angles. The first angle concerns a sector that drives the Tunisian economy, which is olive oil. The second is tomato production, which represents a basic food item for Tunisians.

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Mechanisms and tools

Before diving into the investigations we completed, I would like to talk about the mechanisms and tools we relied on in our work.

We used immersive journalism techniques, spending days with farmers working in the olive and tomato production sector, and we observed for days on end how they work, cultivate, and care for their plants.

We turned to experts and asked them to prepare reports to find out the amounts of water consumed by foreign and Tunisian seedlings (in relation to olives) and the amounts of water consumed by tomatoes.

With the beginning of the tomato season, which starts in March, we began to make periodic visits to a farmer in the greater state of Tunisia who has a land area of 3 hectares where he grows tomatoes. We saw how he planted them and we saw how he had a well with little water that ended in the middle of the season.

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Mechanisms and tools

We also sought the help of experts and conducted analyzes and comparisons between various types of olive seedlings, both original and foreign, to find out which seedling consumes the most water.

We compared models from other countries.

We adopted data journalism and explanatory journalism techniques.

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Open Sources:

International Olive Council

United Nations

Other local sources such as the National Observatory of Agriculture in Tunisia and the Institute of Statistics

Tunisian Competition Council

Farmers we talked with

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Olive Oil Sector

Tunisia's olive production declined during the 2022-2023 season to approximately 900,000 tons, which will provide 180,000 tons of olive oil, compared to 1.2 million tons of olives and 240 tons of olive oil recorded during the previous season.

This fluctuation in productivity is coupled with Tunisia’s declaration of a state of “water emergency,” as the Ministry of Agriculture issued a decision on March 29, 2023, requiring the adoption of a temporary quota system and the temporary prohibition of some water uses.

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Olive Oil Sector

The Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture attributed this decision to the recurring years of drought and the weak revenues of the dams, which negatively affected the water reserve, which reached an unprecedented level, as well as the negative effects on recharging the groundwater table and the decline in its level.The Tunisia 2035 guiding document issued by the Tunisian Ministry of Economy and Planning in the summer of 2022 acknowledges that the Tunisian country is witnessing increasing pressures in relation to its water resources,

as water stress reached 107.9% in 2019 compared to 79.1% in 2010 as a result of excessive and indiscriminate exploitation of the water table, which in some cases exceeded Regions 188%.

Tunisia faces water scarcity and is considered one of the poorest countries in the Mediterranean basin, as the per capita share reached approximately 390 cubic meters per year, compared to 1000 cubic meters as a minimum for water poverty.

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Olive Oil Sector

Tunisia was ranked first in the world in terms of the quality of olive oil it exports, and the reason for this is the native Tunisian olive tree variety.

But today, reliance is placed heavily on foreign varieties, coming mainly from Spain and Italy. Although they produce larger quantities of olives, they consume a lot of water compared to the native Tunisian variety and are unable to last in Tunisia for more than 10 or 15 years, while the Tunisian variety can withstand drought, do not consume large amounts of water, and are able to live for 100 years.

Relying on foreign varieties of olives, called "irrigated", has led to a doubling of the number of random wells, especially due to the lack of water in all regions of Tunisia.

We played the role of a farmer and contacted a well-drilling company with the understanding that we would ask it to dig a well. In exchange for this service, the company requested an amount estimated at about 22 thousand US dollars.

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Olive Oil Sector

We even spoke with farmers who assured us that they had no solution other than resorting to random wells.

We also noticed that people from other specialties, such as doctors, lawyers, and even judges, resorted to the olive sector, which is harmful to this sector because these people are looking for profit at best and do not understand what the sector needs.

The olive oil and olive sector in Tunisia lacks a clear strategy, especially since there is no state policy to structure the sector and adapt it to climate change and forecasting to discuss ways to develop this sector that can save Tunisia from the crisis it is experiencing, Especially since it is ranked third among the sectors that provide foreign currency to Tunisia, after remittances from Tunisians abroad and the tourism sector.

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Tomato Sector

Since 2014, Tunisia has ranked first in the world in the consumption of double-paste tomatoes, even though tomatoes have not historically been part of Tunisians’ dietary habits, as they are a fruit that the Moriscos brought over more than 400 years ago.

In the last 10 years, the average quantity of tomatoes of various types and shapes exported has grown to about 130 thousand tons, with financial revenues estimated at $43 million annually..

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Tomato Sector

In recent years, tomato cultivation has also flourished, and after the state of Nabeul, which provided about 60% of Tunisia’s tomato production, this cultivation appeared in other states, specifically the central states such as Kairouan and Sidi Bouzid, despite the scarcity of water resources.

This intensive production of tomatoes over the entire agricultural season resulted in intense exploitation of water resources, even though Tunisia has officially entered the level of extreme water poverty since 2020.

Reports that AlQatiba requested from experts to prepare indicate that a farmer can plant 30,000 plants in one hectare, and each plant needs between 4 and 6 liters of water per day during irrigation days.

After the reports and studies that we requested to prepare, we found that the tomatoes that Tunisia exports do not cover the water costs consumed by growing these fruits, since when we sell them abroad for hard currency, we do not cover the cost of the water that is consumed.

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43 millions $

Is what exporting tomato products bring to Tunisia which is nothing when each plant of tomato needs daily

4 to 6 liters of water

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Tomato Sector

Today, although Tunisia has not yet signed the ALECAA agreement, many foreign investors, and Italians in particular, grow tomatoes in Tunisia to escape the restrictions imposed by the European Union related to crops that consume certain percentages of water, medicines, knowing that some of them are prohibited from being used in European Union countries, but they can Its use in Tunisia and Morocco.

They also resort to investing in Tunisia and producing geothermal tomatoes and then exporting them entirely, also to enjoy the tax benefits that Tunisia offers to investors in the agricultural sector.

On the other hand, the manufacturing industries related to tomatoes, although they do not provide significant income when exporting products, have very bad environmental impacts on the environment.

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Tomato Sector

Untreated water released from these factories can destroy an entire region, and this is what happened with the state of Nabeul, which provided 60% of Tunisia’s tomato production.

Today, the state of Nabeul produces poor-quality tomatoes due to the salinity of agricultural lands, as a result, firstly of geothermal drying of tomatoes, and secondly of factory waste, which the Tunisian state itself says does not treat the water it produces.

Returning to the example of the farmer with whom we spent an entire agricultural season, and whose well ran out of water, he ultimately resorted to the water of the Tunisian Water Exploitation and Distribution Company, despite the decision of the Ministry of Agriculture mentioned above regarding restrictions of water consumption. We must point out that there is a rift between farmers and the state, which takes decisions unilaterally and does not implement them and does not provide solutions to farmers to save their agricultural seasons.

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Tomato Sector

Therefore, there is a great depletion of water resources, and there is also a resort to digging random wells, which has serious effects on the water table in Tunisia in the absence of clear water management governance on the part of the Tunisian state.

It is also worth noting that the laws regulating water in Tunisia have not changed since their introduction in 1978.

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Tomato Sector

Through filming with farmers as well, we noticed that those who grow tomatoes end up selling them without making any profits from them. On the contrary, it causes them a financial loss despite the high cost of medicines and fertilizers, even though the beneficiary is the tomato processing factories.

Many of these factory owners launder money in tax havens and we have published investigative reports on some of them.

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Thanks!

AlQatiba web-magazine

Khaireddine Pacha Avenue, Montplaisir

Tunis, Tunisia

rahmabehi@gmail.com