Water, Dignity, Willpower

Water is scarce. Intensified by climate change, political failure, and the rising demand for agricultural export goods, people in the countries of North Africa are increasingly feeling the effects of water scarcity in their daily lives. What it means to live with too little water and yet not lose hope is illustrated by our three contributions:

In Egypt, the SEKEM initiative helps farmers to switch to biodynamic agriculture and to grow plants that can thrive on limited water.

In Tunisia – one of the most water-scarce countries in the world – activists are fighting against political silence and calling for greater ecological awareness.

In Morocco, far from the capital Rabat, women in a desert oasis are defying a law that seeks to abolish their centuries-old right to the communal management of water distribution – through sit-in strikes, marches and, to date, one million minutes of resistance.

Three stories from North Africa – about water, dignity and the will not to give up.