Geographical indication of Olive oil in Elles-Sers, North-West Tunisia: Implementation Process

Ellès-Sers, in the Kef Governorate (Northwest of Tunisia), is one of the country’s oldest olive oil producing areas. It is characterized by a very small-scale farming system, with traditional orchards cultivated using an ancestral irrigation distribution system and distinguished by the continued cultivation of multi-century olive trees. The olive groves contain several ancient cultivars, as well as other fruit trees and annual crops. The olive growing area is also characterized by animal production, especially cattle. This producing area is one of the most appropriate sites to be an agroecological living laboratory for olive oil production in Tunisia due to the above-mentioned technical characteristics and the challenging socio-economic context of the region. The Implementation of a new Olive Oil Geographical Indication was motivated by the configuration of Ellès-Sers as an example of vulnerable olive oil producing areas that are still using traditional local know-how, ancestral cultivars, some existing agroecological practices of sustainability, all within a challenging context of producer fragmentation and small-scale farming. Traditional olive-growing systems and small-scale production are less competitive in a cost-driven global olive oil market. The Geographical Indications (GIs) process was presented as a valuable tool that offers the small producers of Ellès -Sers the opportunity to work together as a community to better promote their products and their specificity, with the aim of generating higher incomes, while using sustainable practices based on local know-how. It is based on the sensitivity of specific market segments worldwide to product quality, authenticity, sustainability, and storytelling. The agroecological transition is an opportunity that can open new horizons for producers by supporting the process of the GI in such a fragile context. The GI implementation process in Ellès-Sers started early 2015. The Agroecology Initiative (i.e., WP3 on Inclusive business models and financing strategies) in Tunisia began supporting this process in 2022. This report offers an overview of both completed and ongoing steps in the GI implementation process, which is currently being supported as part of the CGIAR Multifunctional Landscapes (MFL) Science Program.