Walker Kmetz

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The 2014 documentary “A Siege of Salt and Sand” looks at Tunisia during protests that led to the removal of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the ways that climate issues impacted the country during that time. During class when we had group discussions about the availability of food and water in certain countries, my group had Tunisia, so I was particularly interested to see more in-depth details of the issues we looked at during that shorter discussion.

During our smaller discussion, we found there was a divide between the coast and inland of the country in regards to water access and quality – although both parts still faced significant issues. The country has the lowest satisfaction with water quality in the world by a wide margin – today, only 19% are satisfied with water quality. Meanwhile, in the north and center of the country there is a 21% satisfaction, and 9% in the south.

The dissatisfaction in Tunisia is clear from the documentary in both halves of the country. For example, coastal communities are feeling the impact of climate change in rising sea levels and increasing amounts of salt water. which makes agriculture difficult. Meanwhile, the south is also facing agricultural difficulties, but in the opposite extreme of the deserts becoming so dry that many plants and animals can not even survive in that area like they used to. An issue in this regard is a lack of water wells in the rural south – as it is what leads to many communities being without the water they need. About 34 minutes in, one man says “From my point of view, the absence of wells provided by the government, and the absence of rain is ruining the live stock and oil cultivation.” This is also causing people to move to the urban north – which is then putting a strain on northern water supplies as well. Since the country is so arid and has little government supported water access, it is clear as to why these factors play such a strong role in the water satisfaction being so low.