Tunisia's Olive Oil: A National Treasure to be Valued
As Tunisia expects a good olive oil campaign, olive oil is more than ever a national asset to be valued. Despite some weaknesses, the sector has remarkable potential, driven by ancestral know-how and recognized quality worldwide. By drawing inspiration from successful experiences, such as China's with the goji berry, Tunisia can transform its green gold into a driver of development, radiance, and future.
A Paradoxical Situation
Tunisia is experiencing a paradox this year: a country with one of the best olive groves in the world, yet struggling to protect a strategic sector, sometimes at the mercy of the climate and more often at the mercy of the market. However, there is a truth that specialists have been repeating discreetly for years: if Tunisia really wanted to, its olive oil could become one of its major geopolitical assets, like black gold elsewhere.
A Threatened Heritage
The olive oil campaign was expected to be better than previous ones, with estimates suggesting a production of 500,000 tons. However, hope was quickly dashed by the constraints of the terrain: lack of labor, low purchase prices for producers (between 8 and 10 dinars per liter of olive oil), rising agricultural costs, and the absence of a modern storage strategy. Farmers have understood that without rapid support, the season risks being lost, leaving the country to import what it exported yesterday.
A Waste of Riches
This is not the first time Tunisia has stumbled over a millennial wealth. But the Tunisian economy can no longer afford this waste: olive oil represents an essential part of exports, a precious source of foreign exchange, and a sector that supports hundreds of thousands of families.
A Rare Opportunity
In a global market where Spain is suffering from repeated droughts and Italy is reinventing itself, Tunisia has a rare window of opportunity to consolidate its position among the top players. But this position will not be obtained by volume or chance. It requires a move upmarket, strong labeling, marketing based on Mediterranean authenticity, and above all, a vision. Tunisian olive growers produce oil that experts rank among the best. What is lacking is not quality or know-how, but a national policy worthy of a strategic sector.
Saving the Season, Preparing for the Future
The solution will not come from a one-time financial support. It will come from a change in perspective: treating olive oil not as just another agricultural product, but as a symbol of excellence, a high-value export sector, and a national brand. Solutions exist: a guaranteed minimum price to avoid the collapse of agricultural revenues, strategic storage to smooth out seasonal fluctuations, incentives for local bottling, dedicated economic diplomacy to conquer new markets, and innovation in drought-resistant varieties.
The Role of the State
The role of the state is not to do it in place of producers, but to secure the environment that will allow them to invest, modernize, and transform a fragile season into a sustainable cycle.
A Sector that Can Inspire the Entire Country
Tunisia has already proven, in other sectors, that it can reinvent itself when it combines tradition and modernity. Olive oil offers the same potential. By saving it today, the country is not only protecting a harvest; it is protecting a heritage, an identity, and perhaps even a model. Tunisia needs victories, and this one is within reach. It's enough to reach out and finally believe that this country can capitalize on its strengths. Olive oil has been illuminating lamps for centuries; it can still illuminate the future.
A Successful Example: China's Goji Berry
In China, a traditional berry has been transformed into an economic, health, and diplomatic asset. The goji berry, a small red fruit rich in antioxidants, has become a national ambition. There are symbols that nations cultivate to tell their own story. For China, the goji berry, originating from the Ningxia region, is more than a fruit; it is a thousand-year-old medicinal heritage, an identity product that Beijing has decided to project into the future.
From Traditional Ingredient to Modern Industry
What was once an ingredient in traditional pharmacopoeia has become a modern industry, technically advanced and export-oriented. China is not just producing goji berries; it is building an agricultural and economic model around it. Ningxia, once a marginal region, has undergone a spectacular transformation. Goji berry orchards, once scattered and exploited in an artisanal way, are now integrated into large farms equipped with intelligent irrigation systems, digital sorting stations, quality certifications for export, and laboratories for transforming the fruit into juice, powder, oil, and nutritional extracts. The result is a national market that is already colossal, pushing producers to innovate.
A Product with a Bright Future
Premium brands are multiplying, combining tradition and minimalist marketing inspired by Japan or Korea. The goji berry is now a flagship product of Chinese production, attracting international tourists from all over the world to discover and hear the story told around this precious Chinese product. Tunisia can draw inspiration from this example to change the destiny of a precious Tunisian product: olive oil.
