Africa report

Tunisia: sand culture, an ancient practice that tries to resist

Audio 02:14

Ali Garci in his “Gattaya” cultures.

He also wants this agriculture, certified as heritage, to be preserved.

© RFI/Lilia Blaise

By: Lilia Blaise Follow

2 mins

In Tunisia, in the north of the country, agriculture called "Gattaya" or "Ramli" is practiced in the lagoon of the village of Ghar El Mellah.

This unique agriculture in the world dates back to the 16th century at the time of the Andalusian occupation in the 16th and 17th centuries in the country.

It is a method of agriculture on sand that about forty farmers continue to practice in the region and which is today threatened by the vagaries of climate change.

Advertisement

A few steps from a clear blue lagoon, the cultures of Ali Garci spread over fine sand, separated by barriers of palm leaves.

Ali is planting local melons.

“ 

You see, we use these barriers to protect the plants

 ,” he says.

He also has potatoes, red beans or even onions that grow in the sand.

It is an ancestral method brought back by the Andalusians.

It rests on a natural irrigation system, buried under the first layer of apparent sand.

Under this layer of sandy sand, there is a layer of hardened sand, it's a hard layer, we respect it and we never break it

 ," he warns.

This famous layer, preserved for centuries, will separate salt water from rainwater.

When the flow rises, the salt water infiltrates slowly, through this hard layer, and it pushes the fresh water which always remains above to reach the level of the roots of the plants

 ", explains Ali Garci.

A commitment to save heritage-listed agriculture

A fragile balancing act that depends on rainfall, but also on the exchange between seawater and the lagoon.

Ali takes us to see this natural corridor, currently blocked by an accumulation of sand created by the movement of boats from the fishing port next door.

Look, the water enters, but it stops there because there has been a considerable accumulation of sand

 ", he shows.

Today, despite the digging of a trench by backhoe loaders, this is not enough to let the water through.

“ 

We are going to help each other, farmers, with shovels, with wheelbarrows, to deepen this trench so that the water can pass

 ”.

Ali's commitment does not stop there, he also wants this agriculture, certified as heritage, to be preserved.

Fragile, it is threatened by climate change: increasingly sparse and weak rains, increasingly strong winds.

“ 

Our product is a natural product, which has a specific taste, so I always issue an SOS to save this concept of Ramli agriculture

 ,” he hopes.

Today, nearly 200 hectares are still occupied by Ramli agriculture, but they are shrinking due to increasing urbanism and a lack of interest from the younger generation to take over.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_EN

  • Tunisia

  • COP15 Desertification

  • Agriculture and Fishing

  • Climate change