Mohamed Ali Gaidi takes his sheep out to graze at dusk. This is his favorite part of the day, walking with his sheep and observing them to see if they are in good health. He then goes back to his home, which he shares with his parents and his sister in a small town in the Béja region of northwestern Tunisia. Growing up in a rural area in one of the poorest parts of the country, he cultivated his passion for sheep farming: “It's a part of me, like breathing,” he says.

This passion was not haphazard. Mohamed comes from a long line of farmers specialized in breeding dairy sheep for cheese production. He learned everything from his grandfather: from keeping the animals healthy to preparing the best cheese recipes.

When his grandfather died, the family was not able to keep the sheep herd, and they suddenly lost their main source of livelihood. It pained Mohamed deeply and he wanted to recover the herds, but at 24 years old, he wasn’t in an economic situation to do so.

Facing poverty and a lack of opportunity, Mohamed decided to move to Tunis, the capital city, to be a construction worker.  This is a well-known crossroads for many young women and men from rural areas like Béja. Many of them don’t have access to quality education, decent employment opportunities, resources or essential services. Moving to urban areas to look for employment opportunities often seems the answer.

Mohamed worked hard in construction to save money and, after six years in the capital, he went back to his town to fulfill his dream: rebuilding his family’s dairy sheep business and carrying forward his grandfather’s legacy.