kiss the earth
Radhouene inside one of the domes he built using ecoconstructive methods.
On permaculture and regenerative farming in Tunisia (2024)
Elyes brings water to his plants at sunset. Elyes is a dry land regenerative farmer. In a regenerative farm, they want the soil to be spongy, aerated and full of life. One teaspoon of soil contains more living organisms than there are people on the planet.
Elyes’s truck is parked next to the sea where he collects seaweed for mulch in bags that he brings to his land to spread. In permaculture it is encouraged to use as much locally available materials as possible.
Nadia holds the worms she dug up in her garden. Earthworms are soil structure engineers and fertilizers, and a sign of a healthy soil.
A new water bassin is being built next to Nadia and Radhouene’s ecoconstructed domes. Many people have helped the couple throughout the years with their construction. They welcome anyone who helps on the land by offering and sharing their home and resources.
Publication in Zeit on December 24, 2024
Elyes with a flower that he stuck to his earlobe, a trick he uses to enthuse children in his teachings about permaculture.
North Africa is very vulnerable to climate change with its
extremely variable climate because of it being situated
between the Mediterranean Sea and the desert. If the global
temperature rises by an average of 2°C, in Tunisia this will
increase to 3°C. It’s also a country with a big risk of water
scarcity. If no action is taken, the country could lose more
than 80% of its natural water resources by 2040.
Permaculture is a reaction, but also an answer to climate
change - and the current polycrisis we are experiencing,
according to Elyes from permaculture and autonomous
living eduction center Dar Emmima in Chebba - a small
fishing town in northeast Tunisia. The name is a
contraction of the words ‘permanent’ and ‘(agri)culture’,
with the aim of building a civilisation that can survive
forever.
For this photo series I visited a couple of permaculture
farmers in the summer of 2024 in Tunisia that are creating
this sustainable lifestyle under some of the harshest
circumstances on the planet. In my photos I’m showing
that permaculture isn’t just plants, but a hopeful symbiosis
between every living thing.
Woodlice taken from Nadia and Elyes’s compost. Woodlice are beneficial to overall compost, because they help break down and aerate the compost. They like to feed on fungi and decaying vegetable matter.
Elyes in his lush garden, the first one he planted together with his wife Nadia, behind the house that he inherited from his grandmother. Compared to the surrounding area’s, the garden is almost surrealistically green - defying climate odds.
Cover story of Volkskrant Magazine (august 17, 2024)
Design by Jaap Biemans ‘Coverjunkie’