DJEBBA, Tunisia: High in the hills of northwestern Tunisia, farmers are planting thousands of fig trees with a unique roof system they hope will save them from everlasting drought.
But Jibba al-Oliya’s “Hanging Garden” is put to the test this year as the North African country swept through its warmest July since the 1950s.
It has exacerbated a long drought that has left Tunisia’s reservoirs at only a third of their capacity.
The gardens are supplied with water from two springs high in the mountains.
Water is supplied to the gardens by a network of canals which are opened and closed at fixed times according to the size of the garden.
Importantly, a wide variety of crops provide resilience and inherent pest control in contrast to monocultures that dominate modern agriculture and require vast inputs of pesticides to survive.
“We grow figs, but also other trees such as quince, olives and pomegranates, and under them we plant a wide range of greens and legumes,” said activist Farida Jibby as insects buzzed among flowers of thyme, mint and rosemary. Huh.
JBB pointed to some channels that irrigate 300 hectares of the area’s slope orchards.
In 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization recognized the system as an example of “innovative and resilient agroforestry”, adding it to a specific list of only 67 “globally important agricultural heritage systems”.
“The system is capable of adapting to and taking advantage of an inhospitable topography,” the UN agency said.
“Through the use of natural geological formations and the use of stones, local communities are able to transform the landscape into fertile and productive land.”
The FAO praised the diversity of local crop varieties grown by area farmers, as well as the use of wild plants to “solve” potential pests and livestock and fertilize the soil.
While no one knows how old this system is, human habitation in the region predates the Carthaginian civilization established in the ninth century BC.
But while it has been around for generations, the system is under threat in the form of climate change.
Activist Tawfiq al-Rajehi, 60, says the flow of water from the springs that irrigate the area has decreased, especially in the last two years.
Unlike in previous years, the surrounding peaks are no longer covered with snow every winter, and the leaves of many trees at the bottom of the jabba are yellow and sick.
Rajehi, a teacher at a local school, said there is another factor due to climate change and less rainfall: farmers are in favor of cash crops.
“Some farmers are growing more figs instead of less water-intensive crops because figs have become more profitable in recent years,” he said. “We need to have a good balance and variety of plants.”
Still, residents say they are proud of their heritage. Farmer Lotfi El Jarmani, 52, said there is also increasing demand for the jibba fig, which was granted a Protected Designation of Origin by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2012 – the only Tunisian fruit still to enjoy certification.
“They are gaining prestige, plus they are easier to export, plus they bring higher prices,” Jarmani said, adding that most exports go to the Gulf or neighboring Libya.
Rajehi’s daughter, Chaima, a university student, was wearing protective gloves when she went out to harvest fruit from her family’s small.
Figs are more than a fruit to us. We are born here among fig trees and we grow up with them, we learn from a young age how to take care of them,” said the 20-year-old.
JBB is working to persuade farmers to preserve traditional methods of processing produce harvested in the region.
She is working with 10 other women in a cooperative that extracts essences from wild flowers, dries figs, and produces fig and mulberry jam.
“Products that we learned how to make from our mothers and grandmothers are becoming popular because they are of such high quality,” she said.