Algeria can increase its production of olive oil and improve the quality to allow this product to reach the European market.
During the seminar organized by the Agricultural Sector Support Program (Pasa) on December 5 in Algiers, two ambassadors were present: Thomas Eckert for the European Union and Stéphane Romanet for France.
An unusual presence for an agricultural meeting, but completely normal if we consider the cooperation between Algeria and the European Union (EU).
The latter devotes around fifteen million euros to this program. Thomas Eckert praised the contribution of PASA to the progress made by the Algerian olive industry: advice to producers and oil mills to install good practices in orchards and in the mills, international standard analysis laboratory, adaptation to climate change, leading group for conquering export markets.
Stéphane Romanet wanted to recall the place that the olive tree plays in the traditions of Algeria and France and in particular the enthusiasm of French consumers for olive oil.
« Funded by the European Union, hence these specialists discuss what can be done to improve the quality of the Algerian sector to produce more but even better and to ensure that Algerian olive oil can legally access the large European market, declared Stéphane Romatet speaking of the Pasa program.
He also recalled the possibilities of exporting Algerian olive oil to France and Europe: “I am thinking in part of the European market where consumption is exploding and to the French market in particular where there is a very strong demand for very high-quality olive oil and where Algeria has its place”.
For his part, Mohamed Hadi Sakhri, head of the Algerian delegation to the International Olive Council (IOC) and central director at the Ministry of Agriculture, expressed his satisfaction with the changes underway in the value chain. “Olive oil is today among the strategic sectors in Algeria”, he said.
Pasa, a 15 million euro program
This seminar aimed to take stock of this program started in 2018 and was financed to the tune of 15 million euros, including 5.8 million allocated to the olive sector through the Soummam Cluster.
A center managed by Expertise France of the French Agency for International Technical Cooperation and in collaboration with the National Institute of Agronomic Research of Algeria (Inraa). A sign of the interest of Algerian farmers, this program, initially planned for the wilayas of Tizi Ouzou, Béjaïa, and Bouira, was then extended to the wilayas of Jijel, Bordj Bou Arréridj, Sétif, Médéa, and Boumerdès. No fewer than 50,000 olive oil producers and a thousand mills are affected.
At the time of the closure of the Pasa, 99% of the allocated credits were used to strengthen the training, support, and organizational capacities of producers and small businesses as well as to strengthen technical and research supporting the sector. Which explains the exceptionally high rate of resources consumed.
There were 17 trainers and around sixty technicians who liaised with the farmers, in particular, to popularize the mechanical harvesting of olives. Equipped with mechanical combs, these technicians, for example, led popularization sessions in their respective sectors.
Since the National Agricultural Development Plan launched in 2000, the Algerian olive sector has experienced an expansion in surface areas. Several brands of olive oil have been awarded medals in prestigious competitions.
This is the case for the Baghlia, Numidia, Sainfoin, Olea, and Dahbia brands which have won several awards in international competitions. These brands carry out cold pressing and most often the olives harvested in the morning are pressed in the afternoon.
If these brands manage to launch into the export market, the majority of mills still need to have a culture of quality to launch into export.
Very early on, an investigation initiated by PASA confirmed the poor qualities of the oil produced locally. It appeared that if only extra virgin oil is used internationally, “ 80% of the oils consumed in Algeria are common oils and some are lampante”. One of the causes lies in the time that elapses between the harvest and the crushing of the olives. The bags in which the olives are enclosed can wait several days or even months before being crushed where it would have to be done the same day.
Olive oil: Algerian producers aim for quality
In 2022, fifteen Algerian producers were rigorously selected and invited to exhibit their oil at the Agro-Food Show (Sial) in Paris, one of the most renowned in the field.
Under a common banner “Selection of Algerian olive oils”, these 15 professionals present products in packaging that complies with international standards.
Success is then achieved. Foreign buyers say they are pleasantly surprised by the aromatic palette of the selected oils. Algerian oils come from extensive orchards with low phytosanitary pressures and are planted with local varieties, some of which are rich in polyphenols. In distant markets, the Algerian typicity is such that it is designated by the formula “ North-Africa Olive Oil”.
Another trip last October. A trip intended this time for PASA popularizers and dedicated to the discovery of the Tunisian olive ecosystem. A success according to the participants who certainly observed the same techniques used in Algeria, but who were surprised by the high level of organization of the Tunisian olive industry.
The analysis of the export market quickly led the Pasa team to the conclusion that to find a place in the European market, faced with the domination of Spanish and Italian olive oils, Algerian exporters had to aim for quality.
This is a strategy that Greek producers employ and of which a representative recently confided to the press that: “Today, what distinguishes us ‘abroad, it is only the added value of our product. We cannot compete with countries like Spain in quantity and price. We must produce the Rolls-Royce of olive oils.” Greece has a major asset for this: its excellent Koronéïki variety.
However, with 36 varieties listed, Algeria also has what it takes to achieve quality. From its beginnings, Pasa has worked upstream in the sector through operations concerning the size, maintenance, preservation, and regeneration of orchards. The presence of oleasters that can be grafted also proves to be an opportunity.
In May 2023, Expertise France, the Technical Institute of Fruit Arboriculture and Vine (Itav) as well and the Constantine Biotechnology Research Center (CRBt) signed a contract aimed at the molecular characterization of the 36 varieties of olive trees endemic to Algeria.
Characterization of other cultivars should follow. The key is the possible addition of 55 varieties to the current national catalog. The Soummam Valley is a zone of diversification that gives this terroir exceptional olive biodiversity which must be safeguarded.
Concerning downstream, the program’s operations mainly concerned the harvesting, storage, and packaging of olives. This involves putting an end to plastic containers and moving towards opaque glass bottles, or even metal containers.
In 2020, the French association of 60 million consumers revealed the presence of an endocrine disruptor (dibutyl phthalate) in Tunisian Terre Delyssa olive oil.
A brand which until then had achieved the feat of being present on the shelves of French supermarkets. A plasticizer probably present in the tanks or PVC pipes, is used during the storage or transport of these oils, as the association’s magazine then suggested. An error that could undo an entire year’s work.
Also, to avoid such mishaps, Pasa has undertaken in Sidi Aich (Bejaia) the upgrade of an analysis laboratory by Algerac and approved by the COI (International Olive Council). This laboratory should be able to issue official analysis reports including “zero residue” certificates.
In the area of marketing, Pasa supports a group of producers wishing to move towards export. An approach that involves pooling their resources, as in the case of group orders for hundreds of thousands of glass bottles, is the only way to interest local glassworks.
Calls for projects aim to support initiatives to promote the pomace and vegetable oils resulting from the crushing of olives. This approach should enable the production of fuel, compost or livestock feed.
Among the projects that Pasa encouraged is launched by a group of women from Yakouren (Tizi-Ouzou) who created a cooperative producing products derived from the olive tree.
During this seminar “Capitalization more than closing”, project manager Olivier Rives summarized the issues: “.In the current climate change, the nature of the extensive Algerian orchard and its varietal heritage is favorable, Pasa has brought together the conditions for adopting the orchard and the mills to the new situation, it remains for the sector to achieve its unity with all the links in the value chain
After the Alban 2012 program between the Ministry of Agriculture and Brittany (France) which resulted in the establishment of technical support groups for dairy farmers in several wilayas, Pasa gives the example of a successful program in olive growing but also in dates and market gardening with its center dedicated to the south of the country.
An example of international cooperation which deserves to be extended to strategic sectors such as cereals and oilseeds.
