The last four seasons of drought and scarce rainfall have severely depleted Tunisia's water resources and reserves. Like all countries in the Arab States region, water security is becoming the most urgent and vital issue. 

As water scarcity is one of the frontier challenges of UNDP Tunisia, the Accelerator Lab has joined forces with the environment and climate team to explore new entry points, including within the framework of the ongoing programme in Kairouan. 

Together, we made a field visit to the city of Kairouan to explore new initiatives and experimentations. 

On the road to Kairouan 

On our way to Kairouan, I couldn't stop thinking about the city's historical importance and the enchantment it exerts on its devotees. Because Kairouan, like all millenary cities, has its devotees: Built in the 7th century and as the 1st Muslim city in North Africa, it is also considered Islam's 4th holiest city.

I watched the landscape slowly change. The green, rocky mountain hills of the North were replaced by flatter landscapes, until we reached Kairouan, where the geography flattened out. "Le plat Pays", as Jacques Brel called it, but also the "land of steppes" in local vocabulary:vast and arid steppes. A few kilometers before the town, a vast plain laid before us, with wadis generating small circuits of dried-up water. We could feel the water, but only in its traces, dynamic lines that curved across the plain, gently embracing its landforms and plants. Decades ago, when rains were less scarce, access to the town was blocked by runoff, and visitors would have to wait for the rain to subside before they could enter. 

Just before arriving, on the right-hand side of the road, we see enormous reed fields. We will later understand that these wild reeds grew following the installation of a water purification plant. Leaks from this plant, all along the road, created this field of reeds used by the inhabitants of Metbasta, a small village at the entrance to Kairouan, in various informal but vital economic activities. 

Between Geography and History 

The building of a new city heralds a new historical cycle and the affirmation of a collective will to build a new civilization. Much has been said about why the builders of Kairouan chose this site. The most widespread hypothesis is because of its distance from the sea (60 km) and its arid geography, similar to that of Arabia, the builders' homeland. Professor Fathi Bahri, Inspector General of the National Heritage Institution, however refuted this hypothesis during our discussions. For him, it's illogical that these builders would have fled the desert of their homeland to settle in another desert. He asserted that the choice of the Kairouan site could only be justified by the presence of water and ancient hydraulic installations, notably Roman, which enabled these conquerors to settle.

Kairouan, like all the old cities around the Mediterranean, has its own legend when it comes to its genesis. Here again, we find water. For example, our discussions with the inhabitants of the Grand Mosque district provided us with some interesting insights onits relationship with water: there is a well just behind the side facade of the Grand Mosque, known as "Puit Tekfa"(picture below). The word "Tekfa" is derived from the Arabic word "Yakfi", meaning "Enough". Legend tells us that the builders of Kairouan, at the time of the construction of the great mosque (the oldest building in the city), began by digging a well and were surprised by the power of the water that gushed out of the earth that they shouted "Enough Enough!". Water was so powerful that it was enough to feed everyone.