"Here is the capital of the prickly pear", proudly launches Mohamed Rochdi Bannani.

It is one of the first in Tunisia to have invested in the transformation of the pips of the fruits of this cactus, to produce the precious and expensive oil - 350 euros per liter - more and more sought after internationally for its virtues. anti-aging.

Owner of 420 hectares of certified organic fair trade prickly pears in Zelfen (centre-west), he produces 2,000 liters per year of fig seed oil, 95% of which is for export.

"This fruit has changed my life and that of the region. It has created wealth in an area where the prickly pear was a symbol of poverty," Bannani, 52, told AFP as he surveyed his field. at the end of the harvest period.

Zelfen, in the heart of the governorate of Kasserine characterized by a poverty rate of 33% and 20% unemployment, has found with this fruit a source of local development.

About 30,000 hectares, including 3,000 hectares of organic fig trees, are cultivated in this small town bordering Algeria.

The sector employs more than 5,000 people there, according to Boubaker Raddaoui, in charge of the sector for the Project for access to markets for agri-food and local products (PAMPAT), supported by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). .

"Attractiveness"

Tunisia ranks fifth in the world in terms of areas cultivated with prickly pears for commercial purposes with 117,771 ha, behind Brazil, Mexico, Ethiopia and Morocco.

The North African country, which has reached an annual production of 550,000 tonnes of fruit, is now relying mainly on oil.

A factory that processes organic prickly pears into juice, leg extract and seeds to make oil, at a farm in Zelfen, near Kasserine in central Tunisia, October 25, 2022 FETHI BELAID AFP

Nearly 8,000 liters were exported in 2021 for a turnover of 5 million euros, according to PAMPAT which, since 2013, has been training producers and helping them to organize themselves in professional circuits.

“Exports jumped by 50% between 2019 and 2021, which shows us the attractiveness of the sector and the increase in demand from one year to the next”, underlines Mr. Raddaoui.

The dynamism of the sector is such that the country has gone from five processing companies (mainly centered on oil) in the early 2000s to 55 in 2021, including 11 in the Zelfen region, organized into cooperatives.

"Before, everyone wanted to leave (the region). Today, it's ancient history thanks to oil," says Hamza Rochdi, a young farmer who cultivates the 40 hectares of family land.

"Thanks to the growing interest in this fruit, our working conditions have improved," said Hanane Messaoudi, a fig picker for seven years, now paid minimum wage (nearly 500 dinars per month, around 150 euros).

"Undemanding"

The prickly pear also has the advantage of not fearing arid soils, for a country where water is becoming scarce, as in the whole region.

Tunisia has fallen well below the water shortage threshold, estimated at 1,700 m3 per capita, with only 428 m3 per capita per year, according to the latest official figures dating from 2004.

A factory that processes organic prickly pears into juice, leg extract and seeds to make oil, on a farm near Kasserine in central Tunisia, October 25, 2022 FETHI BELAID AFP

"The prickly pear is undemanding, adapts to several types of soil and consumes little water. It is an ecological boon", underlines Mr. Raddaoui.

In the footsteps of Zelfen, other regions are interested in this culture, like Nabeul (north-east) and Kairouan (center).

However, this enthusiasm has its limits due to difficulties in entering very dynamic markets such as Japan or South Korea.

For the moment, Mohamed Rochdi Bannani transforms only 20% of his annual production (20,000 tonnes of fruit) into oil due to "marketing problems".

“The markets are not 100% open,” he regrets.

In addition, even if it sells for a high price in the form of cosmetics, "prickly pear seed oil is expensive to produce", notes Salim Benmiled, who in 2020 set up a processing plant in Thala, near Zelfen.

A reason that pushed this 62-year-old industrialist to exploit other derivatives of the fruit, such as bark for animal feed or seeds for the manufacture of food flour.

© 2022 AFP