February 25, 2020
On the 23rd of January, the team members of CREDA involved in the PACTORES project embarked on an extremely interesting field trip to get to know the pastoral areas in the semi-desert region of Tunisia close to the Algerian border. The 3rd general assembly of the project was hosted by the IRA (Arid Regions Institute).
An interesting excerpt from the original article summarizes one of the main challenges faced by agropastoralists in Tunisia:
“The pasture productivity can satisfy the herd’s needs during the rainy season, but during the dry period, animals require feed supplements (primarily barley). These climatic variations constitute the main challenge for pastoralists in the region. In periods of drought, they face many difficulties in obtaining the supplementary feeds. Further, feed prices are increasing as availability decreases without pastoral production. In this situation, the grazing model is changing from extensive to semi-intensive.“
Check out the PACTORES website for some visual highlights of the trip – the unique landscape, some of our CREDA colleagues in action, and the delicious food. Stay tuned here and at the PACTORES website for further updates as the project continues to develop!