Bassem Nasrem, agronomist and coordinator of the “Green Protein Bank” project, represents, like many young people, the involvement of Tunisian youth in civil society to address current environmental and social challenges. Through the TransCap program, Bassem was assigned his first project as a coordinator with the Tunisian Association of Environmental Agriculture. An ambitious challenge for a project that aims to combat the overexploitation of agricultural soils by implementing a rotation of cover crops with fruit trees adapted to low rainfall.
©Association Tunisienne d’Agriculture Environnementale
Before launching the project, the first challenge was to convince the local administration, the Territorial Extension Unit, and potential future beneficiaries. To persuade farmers to change their practices and participate in the project, numerous visits and meetings with families in the Goubellat region were necessary. All activities and training were conducted on their lands, allowing farmers to visualize the benefits of the project and the advantages of forage banks. They also received the necessary seeds to meet the forage needs of their livestock. In the end, 350kg of cover crops were sown for each farmer and fruit trees in two farms. Nurseries were set up in project areas to offer local varieties of seeds and avoid market rising prices.
©Association Tunisienne d’Agriculture Environnementale
Beyond the acceptance of beneficiaries, environmental constraints and extreme drought this year made difficult the agricultural work. The coordinator played a key role in keeping farmers motivated by regularly visiting them. After more than a year of implementation, the success of this project is ultimately based on collaboration, continuous training, and the dissemination of good agricultural practices among farmers and the association.
©Association Tunisienne d’Agriculture Environnementale
At IUCN-Med, many projects supporting Civil Society in North Africa are implemented by young graduates. This year, 9 organisations received their first funding thanks to PPI OSCAN 3 and 2 thanks to TransCap3. Among the 49 projects currently benefiting from the two programmes, more than 50% are coordinated by young people under 35 years old. For these young people, their TransCap or PPI OSCAN project is often their first experience as coordinators. However, their interest in nature conservation and motivation to innovate in the face of current challenges give them in-depth knowledge of their environment and the conditions in which the most vulnerable communities live. Their dynamism and availability towards beneficiaries also help create a relationship of trust that guarantees the success of the projects. To discover more projects like this one:https://mubadarat-uicn.org/projets
This project is within the framework of the TransCap2 programme coordinated by IUCN-Med and funded by the General Directorate of Cooperation of the Balearic Islands.
