Rural women are much involved in the agriculture sector but face discrimination in accessing land, financial services, social capital and technology.
Beni Khedache is a rural region and covers an area of 1,356 km2. The site is home to many ecosystems such as mountains, plains, oases and pastoral zones. The local communities face challenges relating to the overexploitation and degradation of the quality of water resource and soil salinity levels. The Kerkennah Islands, a group of 10 islands, are low lying, at a maximum of 13 meters above sea level. The population heavily relies on the tourism industry which is affected by the impacts of climate change. With the increasing droughts and lack of clean water, many islanders are forced to leave for the mainland.
Read more about the landscape (PDF).
Beni Khedache and Kerkennah Islands play a crucial role in Tunisia's cultural and economic advancement. Increased temperatures, aridity, reduced precipitation, and rising sea levels pose severe challenges. In Beni Khedache, 67% are involved in agriculture and tourism. Oasis agriculture, covering 0.8% of the country's agricultural land, supports 10% of the Tunisian population.
Extreme heat in the summer of 2021 adversely impacted agriculture production and tourism income, with reductions up to 50%. In Kerkennah, 43% of the population relies on fishing and agriculture for income. The increasingly dry climate aggravates the existing water scarcity issues that affect soil salinity levels, and in turn has a detrimental impact to fishery resources.
In Tunisia, women, especially rural women, are particularly vulnerable and are more likely to suffer from the adverse impacts of climate change. For example, in the region Beni Khedache, most of the unemployed are women, with no social support and are often deprived of their inheritance rights. The Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) network aims to establish networks of marginalized groups and organize their participation in decision-making. VCA will also strengthen the connection between local government entities and local civil society to scale the implementation of local climate solutions
The VCA network consists of a diversity of local organizations in Tunisia.
