On Durham, Tunisia: Women forage for the wild herbs that are essential to their bread and butter in a sun-drenched hillside field in Tunisia’s northwestern highlands, but drought and rising temperatures Because of this, it is becoming difficult to find valuable plants. .
However, the harvesters claim they have no choice but to continue working hard as there are not many prospects in a country that is hit hard by unemployment, inflation and high living costs.
“There’s a big difference between the conditions in the past and what we’re living now,” said Mabroka Athamani, head of the local women’s weeding organization ‘Al-Baraka’ (‘Blessing’).
“We’re making half, sometimes just a third, of what we used to.”
According to official figures, Tunisia produces about 10,000 tons of aromatic and medicinal herbs every year.
Rosemary accounts for more than 40% of essential oil exports, mainly destined for the French and American markets.
For the past 20 years, Athamani’s congregation has helped numerous families in Tabiniya, a village near the city of Ain Durham in a region where the poverty rate is well above the national average.
Women, who constitute about 70% of the agricultural workforce, are the primary breadwinners for their households in Tabaniya.
‘inadequate harvest’
Tunisia is in its sixth year of drought and has seen its water reserves dwindle, as temperatures in some areas soared above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer.
The country has 36 dams, mostly in the northwest, but they are currently only 20 percent full — a record low in recent decades.
Tabinia women said they normally harvest plants such as eucalyptus, rosemary and musk throughout the year, but dwindling water resources and rare rains have reduced oil production.
“Mountain springs are drying up, and without snow or rain to replenish them, herbs yield less oil,” Athamani said.
Mongia Sudani, a 58-year-old harvester and mother of three, said her work was the only source of income for her household. She joined the group five years ago.
“We used to collect three or four big sacks of herbs for each crop,” he said. “Now, we’re lucky to fill just one.”
Forests in Tunisia cover 1.25 million hectares, about 10% of which are in the northwestern region.
Wildfires caused by drought and rising temperatures have destroyed these forests, further depleting the natural resources that women like Sudani depend on.
In the summer of last year, a forest fire near Tabiniya destroyed about 1,120 hectares.
“Parts of the mountain were engulfed in flames, and other women lost everything,” Soudani recalled.
To adapt to some of the climate-driven challenges, women have sought training from international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to protect forest resources.
Still, Athamani is struggling to generate a viable income.
“I can no longer fulfill my clients’ orders because the harvest is insufficient,” she said.
He said that as a result of this, the collective has lost many of its customers.
‘Women in particular suffer’
A recent study by Tunisia’s Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) highlights how climate-induced damage to forests has adversely affected local communities.
“Women in particular suffer the consequences as their activities become harder and harder,” the study said.
Tunisia has ratified key international environmental agreements, including the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
But environmental justice researcher Ines Labiadh, who oversaw the FTDES study, said enforcement “remains incomplete”.
Labyadh said that in the face of these problems, women harvesting the Tabiniya crop, like many women working in the sector, will be forced to find alternative livelihoods.
“They have no choice but to diversify their activities,” he said. “Relying solely on natural resources is no longer sustainable.”
Back in the field, Bachara bin Salah tries to collect whatever herbs she can.
He said that we cannot do anything except waiting for God’s mercy.