Sustainable production for a future worth living

Living sustainably and consuming in an environmentally friendly way: That's what more and more people want. But how can production be truly sustainable and what are the conditions for this? What initiatives are there in the MENA region and how do they try to implement sustainability, including from social and ethical aspects, in their production processes? And why is that so important?
An illustration of an industrially dystopic world AI generated image
Olives before pressing. Fortolivo oil mill. ©Left: Office National de l'Huile; Center & right: Aziza Gorgi

Reimagining the Industry5 min
 Towards a new model for the Tunisian olive oil industry

It goes without saying that olive oil is tremendously valuable in Tunisia, in cultural, ecological, spiritual, and economic ways. Tunisia is one of the top producing countries of olive oil in the world and because a majority of its olive plantations are grown according to centuries-old traditions, it could potentially offer the highest quantity of ‘organic’ olive oil to the global market, if the official labels were granted.

Tunisia
We highlight three professions that have witnessed changes in customer demand, revealing the shifts in Lebanese consumption patterns. ©Firas Hamiye

Socioeconomics and sustainability5 min
 How Has Lebanon’s Economic Crisis Changed Patterns of Consumption?

Residents of Lebanon face an increasingly grim economic and financial situation, which has delivered a devastating blow to their socio-economic conditions and purchasing power, forcing them to shift their patterns of consumption.

Lebanon
Morocco’s Carpet-Weavers © Ismail Ait Hammad

Morocco’s Carpet-Weavers5 min
 Women Pioneering Change in the Ouazguit Amazigh tribes

The town of Tazenakht in southwestern Morocco has long been famed for its “Ouazguiti” carpets, named after the Ait Ouazguit, an Amazigh (Berber) tribe from the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains.

Morocco
Food for Peace Stamps ©United States "Food for Peace" Program

The Politics of Food2 min
 Learning to Love Baguette

At a certain moment in time it was indeed the Americans that would give Tunisian kids bread for breakfast.The food aid policy was framed as humanitarian but it was implemented with returns in mind. A story of destruction of traditional food culture. 

Tunisia