Tunisia’s heritage is held by the people who live in it. Tanit funds them directly.
Tanit Heritage Foundation supports locally rooted Tunisian businesses that preserve cultural heritage while creating sustainable economic opportunities in their communities.
We work with small guesthouses, artisans, food producers, cultural entrepreneurs, and community-based tourism initiatives that are already protecting Tunisia’s living heritage through their work.
Our role is simple: we identify carefully selected businesses, help present their projects clearly, and connect them with international partners who want to support meaningful, community-based development.
Tanit Heritage Foundation was founded by Chaima Baklouti, a Tunisian development professional based in Washington, D.C.
Before launching Tanit, Chaima worked with the Activity Funds and Grants team on Visit Tunisia, a USAID-funded program supporting alternative tourism in regions of Tunisia often left outside traditional tourism circuits.
Through that work, she saw how targeted investment could strengthen local businesses rooted in culture, landscape, food, craft, and community. A small grant could help a rural guesthouse improve its visitor experience, support an artisan workshop, strengthen a farm-to-table initiative, or create new income opportunities for people already preserving Tunisia’s living heritage. When the program was cancelled in 2025, Chaima founded Tanit to continue supporting that kind of work through a smaller, more focused model.
Tanit is built on a simple belief: Tunisia’s cultural economy should be shaped by the people who live it, preserve it, and carry it forward every day.
I created Tanit because I believe Tunisia’s cultural economy should be shaped by the people who live it every day. The guesthouse owner restoring a traditional home, the artisan keeping a weaving technique alive, the farmer turning local products into a visitor experience — these are the people already building the future of heritage tourism in Tunisia. Tanit exists to help more support reach them.
Tanit supports initiatives that protect and share Tunisia’s cultural identity while creating real local value.
Heritage tourism
Guesthouses, cultural routes, museums, local guides, and immersive experiences that help visitors understand the history and identity of a place.
Craftsmanship and traditional skills
Artisans, workshops, and makers preserving techniques such as weaving, ceramics, textiles, culinary practices, and other forms of living heritage.
Food culture and products of the terroir
Businesses that transform local agricultural products into cultural experiences, from olive oil tastings to cooking workshops and farm-to-table tourism.
Community-based enterprise
Locally owned businesses that create income opportunities for women, young people, artisans, farmers, guides, and other members of the community.
We believe development should be practical, transparent, and rooted in local knowledge.
Specific projects, not vague promises
Each grant is tied to a clear need and supported by documentation.
Local ownership
We support businesses already led by people from the community.
Cultural integrity
We prioritize initiatives that preserve heritage without turning it into a product detached from its meaning.
Sustainable impact
We look for projects that can strengthen income, skills, visibility, and long-term opportunity.
Direct accountability
Partners know which business they are supporting, and businesses understand what the grant is meant to accomplish.
Tanit is starting small, intentionally.
We are building a focused network of Tunisian businesses whose work reflects heritage, dignity, and local impact. As we grow, our goal is to help international partners support projects that are specific, transparent, and deeply connected to the communities they serve.