Word: farm
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Tunisian farmer Afif Elphil was in the south of the country scouting a new crop of watermelons one morning when a call arrived from the Port of Tunis. El Phil, the young chief of the Jinene Agro farming business, figured the customs agent was calling to report a problem with his latest load of peaches, bound for Marseilles in a refrigerated truck aboard a cargo ship. But the paperwork and produce were all in order. The problem, the customs officer explained, was that an electronic scanner had detected something moving inside - the farm's two night watchmen, stowed away among...
That's hardly news to El Phil, as he stands between two long rows of peach trees on his Grombalia farm, 22 miles (35 km) south of Tunis. Just four years after starting to export to Europe, Jinene Agro now gains half its profits from foreign sales. Tunisia's sunny latitude allows El Phil to ship fresh peaches and plums during the weeks from mid-March to mid-April when there's space on supermarket shelves throughout Europe. "We harvest after the end of production in Chile and South Africa, and before Europe begins," he says. "We exploit that...
Jinene Agro, for its part, is keeping folks on the farm. El Phil has lost no workers to European dreams since the night watchmen's attempted escape. The two dozen laborers he retains only earn about $11 a day, but they can make a living for their families, knowing prospects are improving. That is because El Phil is focused on adopting the higher standards that foreign markets expect. He now promotes not only the ability to harvest before European competitors, but also "traceability." His peaches, plums and nectarines are all labeled with the location of his grove, and cool-packed...
...Tunisia's agricultural exports, worth $1.2 billion, still lag behind its $1.4 billion in farm imports. North Africa's natural gifts are too often wasted, says Gunther Feiler of the Tunis office of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). "There is big potential in fruits and other high-value crops," Feiler says of the entire Maghreb area. "But there are too many small farms that don't have the resources to gain access to foreign markets." Policy changes are needed on both sides of the Mediterranean. In North Africa, governments have kept prices low, fearing the political consequences...
...France officially took over the six-month presidency of the European Union from Slovenia on Tuesday, and the irrepressible Sarkozy has promised an action-packed program covering issues from immigration and global warming to farm reform and defense. No doubt he also hopes his moment in the E.U. spotlight will put France back in its self-assumed position as Europe's creative motor and political soul...