Sahar El-Nouby wakes at dawn to see to the needs of her home, then begins her work, which stretches over five hours. She sits on the roof of her small house in Esna district in Luxor, wearing gloves and a medical mask, washing tomatoes and cutting them into halves, then sprinkling them with salt and a little sulphur. She supervises the women working in her production unit.<\/p>\n
After the tomatoes have dried, she collects them and stores them in a well-ventilated room, free of perfumes or cigarette smoke, to ensure food safety. She sorts the tomatoes into grades: first, second and third, then sells them to traders in dried fruits and vegetables who export them abroad. The price per kilogram ranges between EGP 100 and EGP 200.<\/p>\n
Sahar recounts how she learned this craft by joining the “Al-Tayseer” Association in Armant district in Luxor, saying: “I learned through the association, where I was paid EGP 100 a day, in addition to a meal. The training lasted 14 days, until I had mastered all the stages. After the training ended, I worked at the Al-Shaheed station in Esna district for a month, then I began working on my own on the roof of my house with the help of some girls and women.”<\/p>\n
Sahar has managed to achieve self-sufficiency for herself and her family, as she produces about 80 kilograms of dried tomatoes every 15 days, that is, 160 kilograms a month. She earns an income ranging between EGP 1,000 and EGP 2,000 every two weeks, as one kilogram of dried tomatoes sells for between EGP 100 and EGP 150, according to her. However, she has recently stopped drying because of the rise in tomato prices, which range between EGP 35 and EGP 40 per kilogram, a large financial cost that makes buying the necessary quantities difficult.<\/p>\n
Sahar’s efforts have not been limited to drying tomatoes alone, but have extended to other agricultural products. She dreams of selling tonnes of dried tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits, but she faces the obstacle of the small size of her roof, which measures 150 square metres. She tried to rent land to expand her project and create job opportunities for other women, but she backed down because of the high cost of renting land.<\/p>\n
Sahar’s experience has inspired many women, as it has helped them find work opportunities that bring in additional income and that they can do from home, amid harsh economic conditions. This experience has also encouraged the use of available agricultural products through simple and profitable methods.<\/p>\n
Egypt<\/b><\/a> ranks fifth in the world in tomato production, with an annual output of eight million tonnes. Nevertheless, it is considered one of the least efficient countries in reducing waste, as about 40% of production is spoiled during the harvest season, according to Ministry of Agriculture data. Within the framework of the national campaign the ministry is implementing in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), tomato drying projects are being expanded to increase their exports, which represent 5% of total Egyptian agricultural exports.<\/p>\n
The number of vegetable and fruit drying companies rose by 60% during 2023, bringing Egypt’s production of dried tomatoes to 2,500 tonnes by the end of the year, compared with 1,000 tonnes in 2022. Egypt exports more than USD 4 million worth of dried tomatoes, as the local market consumes only about 5% of production, while the remaining quantity is exported to European Union countries and the Middle East.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Recommended reading: <\/b>Egypt is the hardest hit by food price inflation: why? <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n
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Global Warming Threatens Agricultural Crops <\/b><\/h1>\n
The Agricultural Meteorology and Climate Change Research Unit of the Soil, Water and Environment Research Institute at the Agricultural Research Center conducted a study<\/b><\/a> to assess the impact of climate change and rising temperatures on agricultural crops and their production. The researchers used different scenario models to provide long-range projections of the scale of this impact.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The results showed that global warming will affect the productivity of at least ten Egyptian agricultural crops, among them wheat, whose production may fall by as much as 18%. The study also projected a 14% decline in the production of barley, maize, sorghum, rice, soybeans and tomatoes with a temperature rise of 1.5 degrees, with this decline reaching 50% if the warming doubles.<\/p>\n
In a study conducted by the researcher Fatma Mohamed El-Husseini and published in the Alexandria Science Exchange Journal in September 2023, she projected a 13% decline in tomato productivity, in addition to other crops, with the exception of cotton, which will not be affected by climate change.<\/p>\n
The study indicated that climate change includes an increase in droughts, heatwaves, water scarcity and soil erosion, which pose major social and economic challenges facing the agricultural sector in Egypt, especially with fluctuating rainfall.<\/p>\n
Abbas Sharaki, an expert in the environment, water resources and irrigation, links the impact of climate change on crop productivity with the crop-drying industry. He says: “Although tomato seedlings and other crops are exposed to damage and their production declines as temperatures rise, this hot weather helps to speed up the drying process, which has become a fast-spreading processing industry in southern Egypt with a growing market. Drying is also a necessary solution to protect crops from spoiling when they are stored fresh for long periods, and to preserve surplus production.”<\/p>\n
He explains that drying is one of the effective methods of preservation, like freezing, and it suits many vegetables and fruits, such as onions, garlic, dried dates, fresh dates, apricots and grapes. He points out that drying preserves goods for long periods outside their growing season, also makes them able to withstand the harsh conditions of transport for export, and is useful for storing products during low-price seasons for use when prices rise. He adds that a tonne of dried onions is equivalent to five tonnes of fresh onions, which reduces the consumption of resources.<\/p>\n
Sharaki stresses the importance of training people well in the drying process, pointing out that housewives cannot do it without sufficient experience of drying methods and the required proportions of salt and sulphur. He also explains that success within the scope of the family does not necessarily mean success outside it. He adds that he does not expect the productivity of the tomato crop to decline in the coming years, as a single feddan produces from 50 to 60 tonnes, but the problem lies in the need to sell the crop quickly to avoid spoilage, since farmers cannot store large quantities of fresh tomatoes.<\/p>\n
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Recommended reading: <\/b>Farmers facing water poverty\u2026 groundwater wells out of fear of government decisions<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n
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Civil Society Associations <\/b><\/h1>\n
Hala Mahmoud El-Hassany, executive director of the Al-Tayseer Association for Social Welfare in Armant district in Luxor governorate, explains that the association supports women breadwinners to work on such projects. She says: “We moved beyond the framework of helping women with financial aid without work, to empowering them economically and providing job opportunities for them, by teaching them a simple project that strengthens their productive capacity. In addition, the customs and traditions handed down in Upper Egypt often do not allow women to work outside the home; hence the idea of teaching them a simple trade that they can carry out inside the home. The originator of this idea and the spiritual father of the association is El-Saadi El-Ghoul, dean of the Faculty of Al-Alsun at Hurghada University.”<\/p>\n
She goes on: “The association signed a cooperation agreement with the <\/span>Strengthening Agribusiness in Rural Egypt<\/span><\/a> project; this project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development, and it allowed the women working at the association to join the Food Africa exhibition to display their products. The association’s products were indeed very well received, and we received many contracts for drying vegetables and fruits at the hands of these women; and they exported 20 tonnes of tomatoes.”<\/span><\/p>\n
Hala adds: “We do not have a local market, as Egyptians do not yet know dried tomatoes and their uses. We sell our products to the major hotels of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh, because of their many Italian and English guests. These hotels use dried tomatoes in pizza sauces and other dishes these guests prefer. We also sell them dried fruits such as bananas, mangoes, figs and grapes to serve as healthy snacks between main meals. As for the larger quantities, they are bought by traders who export tonnes of tomatoes and other dried products abroad.”<\/p>\n
She explains that the share of women working at the association reached 80%, after it trained 450 women in this industry, 300 of whom went on to work. The association also provided work for 120 women who had been unemployed at the tomato sorting, packing and packaging station in Armant district.<\/p>\n
Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) statistics<\/a> revealed that Sohag tops Egypt’s governorates in the proportion of women breadwinners at 22.3%, followed by Luxor at 20.4%, then Dakahlia at 19.8%, then Cairo at 19.2%. South Sinai recorded the lowest proportion of women breadwinners at 1.7%, followed by New Valley at 4.9%, then the Red Sea at 6.6%, then Matrouh at 7.3%. Women’s contribution to economic activity overall reached 23.1%, and New Valley topped the governorates in the share of the female labour force at 40%, while Sixth of October governorate recorded the lowest share at 9.7%.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Recommended reading: <\/b>Onions bring the Egyptian table to tears<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n
After Retirement<\/b><\/p>\n
Manar Maabad, a retiree, is the pioneer of the vegetable and fruit drying experience in the village of Mansheyat Kasseb in Badrashin district in Giza. She worked as a geologist in the petroleum sector, then in teaching and administration at the American University, and she now runs the Minez project for dried vegetables and fruits in Badrashin district.<\/p>\n
She recounts the idea behind her project: “After my retirement in 2011, I thought about simple activities to fill my free time. Because my grandchildren were used to eating unhealthy sweets and snacks between main meals, I thought about making healthy alternatives for them. I began by reading up on drying vegetables and fruits, and I learned the method in practice during a month-long stay in India, at a solar-powered vegetable and fruit drying factory. I liked the idea, and when I returned to Egypt, I applied it first to my family and grandchildren, and I did not imagine, until now, establishing a project specialised in drying vegetables and fruits with solar energy. I named the project ‘Minez’, with the aim of empowering the women and girls of Badrashin village economically and helping them earn a living from simple work requiring limited experience inside the home, in consideration of the village’s customs and traditions that prevent women and girls from going out to work.”<\/p>\n
She continues: “At first, I sought the help of Hanan, one of the women of the village, and she carried out all the drying steps with me. Then together we taught and trained many other girls and women of the village, until they were able to dry most kinds of vegetables and fruits in the shortest time, while also preserving the nutritional value of the vegetables and fruits.”<\/span><\/p>\n
This project opened a source of livelihood for many women breadwinners. <\/span>Hanan Mohamed<\/b>, one of the first women to work on the “Minez” project, tells us: “I have worked on the project since 2011. At first, I tried some vegetables for family use at home, and after a long period of training and work, I was able to dry other vegetables such as courgettes and carrots to make vegetable soup, and its taste was well received by a wide segment of the local public. I also dried several kinds of fruit, but we cannot export outside Egypt because of the high financial cost and the growing need for large numbers of workers to be able to export tonnes of dried vegetables and fruits to Arab and European countries.”<\/span><\/p>\n
Hanan was not content to work alone; she trained and employed many unemployed girls and women in this profitable project. The simple project enabled a number of girls to build independent family lives and to achieve self-sufficiency and a decent life for themselves and their families amid the difficult economic situation that all classes of Egyptian society are currently living through.<\/p>\n
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