The ‘Tozeur Eco Palm’ project focuses on the conservation and good management of the largest and oldest oasis in Jérid (southwest Tunisia), located on the north-western outskirts of Chott El Jérid.
This oasis is known for its production of dates by families whose farms were handed down from generation to generation. However, climate hazards, increasing water needs and higher pumping costs, the withering of the dates and greater damage to the palm trees by the Boufaroua dust mite, added to poor promotion of the dates and by-products, have led to the land being abandoned in recent years and the transition from family smallholdings to intensive, monoculture farming. Those changes have had major impacts on the oasis’s ecological and social balance. In response to that issue, the Tozeur association is working to promote the production of the date palm and the good management of family-run farms, firstly to protect the oasis’s biodiversity and use of natural resources, and secondly to provide a source of sustainable income that supports local development, particularly amongst young people.
Through a series of training programmes, the association aims to build the governance capacities of local agriculture development groups (GDA), the effective management of water resources, as well as the sales and marketing of dates and related products from palm trees.
Anticipated results
- The administrative, financial and operational capacities of the GDA are increased;
- An ‘Eco Palm’ unit is created within each GDA;
- The products of thirty farmers’ date palms are promoted;
- Environmental protection is improved;
- The management of water resources on farms is improved.
Project video: PPIOSCAN_IRADA
Contact: iradatozeur2018@gmail.com
Association website: Association IRADA Tozeur جمعية إرادة للتنمية بتوزر | Facebook
