The Oltenian Sahara is the name given to an area of around 80,000 hectares in southern Romania that has progressively desertified over the past 80 years, mainly due to communist central planning that led to massive deforestation and the draining of the region's main freshwater bodies in the 1960s. In a mad push to increase agricultural yields in the impoverished country, Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romania's late dictatorial leader, had a quarter of Romania's water drained to make way for farmland. What had been a region of forests and wetlands, with a mild climate and plenty of rain, was turned into a semi-arid desert in the middle of Europe.

After the fall of the communist regime, when the land was returned to its original owners, the situation continued to deteriorate. Acacia trees planted to slow the wind and limit erosion were cut down, and both natural and man-made irrigation systems became overwhelmed by the demand for water. Irrigation infrastructure that stopped working in the early 2000s was dismantled and sold for scrap by shady traders.

Nowadays, the region experiences the highest temperatures in the country, with 44°C recorded in the city of Bechet in 2017. The lack of rain, irrigation channels, and extreme weather, coupled with a lack of job opportunities, has made the region the poorest in Romania. Many have joined the exodus of roughly a quarter of the pre-1989 population and emigrated abroad in search of work and a better life. For those who have stayed, opportunities are scarce, but one crop - the watermelon - has proven both resistant to the harsh conditions and profitable enough to be sustainable.

Water for irrigation is a constant concern since the decline of the irrigation systems in the early 2000s. Farmers drill boreholes to service their fields for one season and have complained about the lack of government support in accessing water, calling for the fuel used to power the boreholes to be taxed less. The main threat to their work, however, is roaming crows that can decimate an entire field of watermelons in minutes. To ward off these and other animals, farmers have taken to hiring people to stay next to the fields - from April to October - in improvised shacks, scaring off animals and looking after the valuable water pumps, which are often stolen if left unattended. These guards are some of the most disadvantaged people in their communities: the sick, the elderly, or family members unable to work elsewhere and feeling the need to contribute. A guard can expect to make around 300 euros a month.

It's a precarious life in a region marked by environmental mismanagement, fraught with challenges and pitfalls. I’ve spent some time meeting Romania's watermelon farmers in their strange, dusty world.

2022 - 2023, Romania