Chobra Beloula (Egypt) (AFP)

At the stroke of midnight and equipped with a headlamp, Imane Mahanna begins picking jasmine, the refined scent of which spreads far beyond her village of Choubra Beloula, in northern Egypt.

"We have been harvesting jasmine since childhood. The picking takes place between midnight and eight or nine in the morning, depending on what we manage to get out of it," she says, a basket full of delicate white flowers under her arm. .

The annual jasmine harvest takes place from July to November, at night because the flowers are then fully open.

As the sun rises on the horizon, the seasonal worker trades her headlamp for a cap.

This work "really requires concentration", we must distinguish "the flowers blooming from the buds" which are picked "only the next day", she explains.

Egypt and India, whose productions are equivalent, generate nearly 95% of the world volume of jasmine extract for perfumes, according to the International Federation of the Trade of Essential Oils and Flavors (IFEAT).

- Refined scents -

More than 90% of the Egyptian jasmine fields are found in the governorate of Gharbiya (north), around the villages of Koutour, Choubra Beloula and Bassioun.

In the early morning, trucks carrying crates overflowing with freshly picked jasmine deposit the flowers at the entrance to the Fakhri factory.

This facility processes around 70% of Gharbiya's jasmine and produces nearly three tonnes of aromatic extract per year out of the five typically produced in Egypt, says Badr Atef, who oversees the weighing and deposit of the harvest at the factory.

"It is the first essential oil factory to be established in Egypt" after its founder Ahmed Fakhri "introduced jasmine in the 1960s" upon returning from his studies in Grasse (south of France), land of flower production and French capital of perfumes, specifies Mr. Atef.

The flowers are processed at the factory into a coarse paste, from which the extracted essential oil is almost entirely for export. Appreciated for its refined scents, jasmine is very popular with perfumers and the cosmetics industry.

According to Atef, jasmine cultivation occupies some 400 hectares in the Gharbiya region and Egypt's production of jasmine flowers reaches 20 tons per day.

But the Indian competitor charges ridiculous prices which push local operators to lower their prices, despite "the superior quality" of their production, deplores Mr. Atef.

Another source of concern for the farmers of Gharbiya, irrigation: the white flower is greedy in water.

"Each feddan (0.4 hectare) is watered three times a month (...) with 450 to 500 m3 of water," explains Moataz Abdel Fattah, Fakhri employee for 34 years.

This water is drawn from the neighboring Nile whose flow is threatened by the construction upstream in Ethiopia of the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa.

- Halve -

Picking can only be accomplished manually, which requires a significant amount of labor. Each worker harvests between two and five kilograms of flowers per day, according to Mr. Abdel Fattah.

The jasmine trade brings in around 6.5 million dollars a year to Egypt, according to IFEAT.

But the novel coronavirus pandemic has caused essential oil production to halve, according to engineers at Fakhri.

Currently, a kilo of jasmine flowers sells for around 40 Egyptian pounds (2.1 euros).

More than 50,000 families, who depend on this industry in Gharbiya, have been affected by the economic crisis linked to the pandemic.

"I didn't pick this year (...) I'm 60, do you think it's fair that I stand in the sun for hours on end for 20 or 30 pounds?", Says Wafaa, a resident of Choubra Beloula.

For other seasonal workers, the harvest remains a pleasant time, especially before sunrise. "The sweetness of the harvest is to be all there, discussing and watching together," says Ms. Mahanna.

© 2020 AFP