EGYPT: The olive oil industry in north Sinai sees decline in sales as a result of the recent political instability in Egypt and increased confrontations between the country's army and Islamist militants in the area

Record ID: 344365

  • Title: EGYPT: The olive oil industry in north Sinai sees decline in sales as a result of the recent political instability in Egypt and increased confrontations between the country's army and Islamist militants in the area
  • Date: 2nd December 2013
  • Summary: NORTH SINAI, EGYPT (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OLIVE FIELD FARMERS PICKING OLIVES FROM TREES OLIVES ON TREE FARMERS PICKING OLIVES FROM TREE OLIVES ON GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FARMER, MAHMOUD RASHED, SAYING: "Olive farming is the most important source of income here in North Sinai, because we don't have anything else. It represents the backbone of our economy." FARMER WALKING WITH BUCKET OF OLIVES ON SHOULDER VARIOUS OF FARMERS EMPTYING BUCKET OF OLIVES INTO TRANSPORTABLE BAGS
  • Embargoed: 17th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Conflict,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVADL993IWGZF110M8PSUCG4JQ4J
  • Story Text: North Sinai's vital olive oil industry has been impacted in recent months by Egypt's political instability and increased confrontations between Egypt's army and Islamist militants in the area.
    The peninsula is known for its production of olive oil and its dependence on it as a main source of income for local families.
    The olive oil industry comes second in dependence to the fishing industry, which thrives from the Bardawil Lake located on the Northern coast of Sinai.
    The land in North Sinai is one that contains thousands of olive trees that are potentially used for the production of olive oil.

    "Olive farming is the most important source of income here in North Sinai, because we don't have anything else. It represents the backbone of our economy,'' said farmer Mahmoud Rashed.
    Due to the dry nature of the terrain, farmers store fresh water in wells and use electric pumps to transfer the water to their land.
    But now the task of watering their land is a challenge. Since the 2011 revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, power outages have become a common occurrence, which has meant that farmers here can't operate the pumps needed to irrigate their land.
    But farmers here say it's also security risks in the region which is impacting their production and sales.

    "We've had problems since the curfew was imposed on North Sinai and on the whole nation because we could only work one shift instead of two, this negatively affected us. The second reason behind our problems was the increased media coverage of the area during the military operations and the reference to North Sinai as a terrorist area, this led to the decrease in buyers of the oil, and the accumulation of the product in North Sinai," said manager of Maasaret Al-Jazeera Olive Oil Manufacturing Company, AbdelJaher Nassar.
    Northern Sinai has been a flashpoint area, especially in recent months, with militant groups targeting security personnel. Militants here have stepped up violence after the the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.
    Last month a car suicide bombing killed at least 10 Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula in one of the deadliest attacks since the recent political unrest.
    State authority collapsed in North Sinai after President Hosni Mubarak's downfall in 2011, allowing an array of hardline Islamist groups to expand into a security vacuum.
    A flood of weaponry from Libya following Muammar Gaddafi's overthrow has exacerbated Egypt's security problems, diplomats say.
    More than 150 members of the security forces have been killed in Sinai since Mursi was deposed by the army in July.
    The unrest in the area and the capital Cairo continues, and despite the olive oil industry's huge potential, specialists say it is another industry neglected by the Egyptian authorities.
    .
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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