Like many youth in Kebili, I struggled with unemployment for years.

Finally, in 2017, I found an opportunity to earn a sustainable income. Along with 17 other women, I participated in a sheep-farming training program, which taught us the skills to raise sheep and lamb.

However, we soon realized that keeping our sheep healthy and fed was not easy. Due to years of drought, there were few places to graze our herd, and buying nutritious animal feed was too expensive.

To come up with a solution and work towards financial independence, we joined forces with 16 other nearby women farmers to establish an agricultural development group -- GDA Al Wifak. Through this cooperative, we increased our bargaining power with our suppliers. GDA Al Wifak was a huge success and soon attracted more women farmers. By the end of 2019, we had 88 members of all ages.

However, the COVID-19 crisis brought an even bigger challenge. In the early stage of the pandemic, we struggled to sell our milk, wool, or meat, and the cost of animal feed jumped even higher. Some of our members left the cooperative and many more had to give up their herds.

The COVID-19 Enterprise Recovery Fund established by the U.S. government under its USAID Tunisia JOBS program helped us bounce back following this difficult time. JOBS’ assistance enabled us to buy a power tiller which helps us grow our own feed in addition to other vegetables to sustain our livestock. Now, we are working to improve our cattle-breeding techniques.

Rawdha Ben Ahmed - General Secretary of GDA Al Wifak