Organic In Egypt

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Natural Selection

http://www.egypttoday.com/issues/0302/8817/03028817.asp

 

Writer: Cam McGrath

Photographer: Mohsen Allam, Nicola Matthews

 

 

Organic health food is trendy, but almost all of the country's

organic products are destined for foreign markets. How can farmers

convince Egyptian shoppers that those more pricey chemical-free

veggies are the right choice?

 

Dr. Mohammed Kandil, of the National Research Center, has shown that

there's no difference between organic and conventional farming in

terms of yield.

 

Nevine Helmy has no idea she just made a healthy decision. The mother

of three just purchased a package of organic yellow peppers certified

free of chemical residues. They cost twice as much as the regular

yellow peppers on the store shelf beside them, but Helmy insists

they " look and taste better. "

 

" I've read about organic foods in newspapers, but I didn't realize

this was what they were talking about, " she says.

 

Most Egyptians have heard about organic foods, but few really know

much about them. Which is a dilemma for people like Egyptian Organic

Agriculture chairman Hajj Elsayed Ashour. Ten years ago, he launched

a biodynamic farming project on 40 feddans. His Fayoum-based company

now runs organic farms on more than 1,000 feddans of reclaimed land

from Mansoura to Assiut. Importers are buying up his organic herbs

and vegetables as fast as he can produce them, but reaching Egyptian

consumers is another matter.

 

" The only place to sell organic products is supermarkets, but they

don't have enough knowledge about organic to deal with them

properly, " he says. " Nor do consumers. "

 

How do producers like Ashour reach consumers like Helmy, to make sure

she continues to buy those better-looking, better-tasting yellow

peppers - which also happen to be better for her?

 

FROM THE GROUND UP

Organic foods are the products of an agricultural system that uses

all natural inputs to promote soil fertility and biodiversity.

Organic farmers grow crops and raise livestock without the use of

chemical fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones or genetic

modification. It's a labor-intensive endeavor that requires workers

to spend long hours in the fields visually inspecting each plant and

weeding manually using specialized tools. This may be good news for

the nation's job-seekers, but the high labor costs translate into

higher retail prices that discourage many consumers.

 

" A kilo of tomatoes that costs LE 1 on the street may sell for LE

2.50 in supermarkets, " explains a Zamalek greengrocer. " Organic

tomatoes cost even more, retailing for about LE 6 per kilo. Who can

afford that? "

 

Despite the costs, organic agriculture is a growth industry. Farmers

in 130 countries have made the switch, feeding a $22 billion global

industry that is expected to double by the end of the decade.

European countries, particularly Austria and Sweden, have embraced

the movement, allocating up to 10 percent of their land for organic

agriculture. Egypt, by comparison, has set aside 30,000 feddans, or

about 0.1 percent of its cropland.

 

Octogenarians might recall the days when Egypt was fully organic.

Pesticides and chemical fertilizers used to be unheard of, but in the

1940s science promised to protect Egypt from the droughts and locust

plagues that had ravaged the country since ancient times. Farmers

rushed to spray crops with a new breed of bug killers with catchy

abbreviations like DDT and HCB. The pesticides killed the bugs, but

according to studies, slowly poisoned everything else too.

 

Meanwhile, the annual Nile flood that delivered a thick layer of

nutrient-rich silt to farmers' fields ended with the completion of

the Aswan High Dam in 1965. Robbed of natural fertilizer, farmers

grew increasingly dependent on artificial ingredients.

 

Egypt's organic movement was pioneered by Ibrahim Abouleish.

Returning to Egypt in the mid-70s after living in Europe, he was

appalled by the way local farmers were degrading the land and

polluting the environment. The international organic movement was

only a decade old at that time, but Abouleish saw Egypt's potential

to break free of its chemical dependency.

 

" Egyptian farmers knew nothing about cultivation, " he recalls. " We

had to teach them everything from scratch. "

 

Abouleish launched Egypt's first biodynamic farm in 1977 on 170

feddans of virgin desert land 60 kilometers north of Cairo. In 26

years, the original Sekem farm has grown into a nationwide network of

160 biodynamic farms cultivating some 7,000 feddans to produce its

own brands of organic food products, pharmaceuticals and textiles.

 

Sekem built its success on the lucrative export trade, but the

company has also managed to carve a niche in the domestic market. It

launched its trademark organic herbal teas in 1983, backed by a media

campaign that introduced the concept of " health food " to the

uninformed Egyptian public. As soaring export sales brought

production costs down, the company gradually expanded its product

line. Convincing people to pay more for natural foods has not been

easy, admits Abouleish, and there is much more to be done.

 

" We have to educate the public, " he says. " Organic agriculture is a

new concept in Egypt, and people should know more about it and the

implications of using organic products. "

 

For Khalil Nasrallah, manager of Wadi Foods, being able to

put " organic " on the label is a definite marketing advantage abroad.

 

REAP WHAT YOU SOW

Most Egyptians are unaware of the dangers lurking in their food.

Pesticide residues linger on fruit, chemical fertilizers leach into

leafy vegetables and controversial genetically modified organisms -

the kind that Americans refuse to eat - crop up in biscuits. Farmers

trying to make ends meet are using science to increase productivity,

pumping livestock with antibiotics and hormones to fatten them for

slaughter. Meanwhile, producers are infusing products with fungicides

and preservatives to extend shelf life.

 

By the time it reaches the consumer, a food product might contain

enough traces of biological and chemical additives to pique the

interest of U.N. arms inspectors. While quantities of the individual

toxins may be low, the cumulative long-term effect is a frightening

unknown. Many of these chemicals are banned in the United States and

Europe, and are linked to infertility, birth defects and cancer.

 

Despite substantial reductions over the past 15 years, farmers still

use pesticides the way they use sugar in their tea. Malathion, a

chemical cousin to deadly sarin gas, is sprinkled on Sinai herb

crops. Cypermethrin, a carcinogen that impairs nerve signals,

blankets vegetable fields in the Delta. Atrazine, a powerful weed-

killer that turns frogs hermaphroditic, glistens on sugar cane stalks

in Upper Egypt.

 

However, when it comes to the average salad, things are not as bad as

they might seem, asserts Dr. Salwa Dogheim, director of the Central

Laboratory for Residue Analysis of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in

Foods.

 

The government-run lab screens food products destined for both the

domestic and export markets, testing 20,000 samples a year for

residues of 82 commonly-used pesticides. Results are compared to

maximum residue levels (MRLs) set in the FAO/WHO international health

guidelines.

 

" You can feel safe, " says Dogheim. " Most fruits and vegetables in

Egypt are within acceptable limits. "

 

Fruit samples tested in 2002 showed 64.9 percent free of any

measurable pesticide residues, 33 percent with residues below the

MRL, and only 2.1 percent in excess. Results for vegetables were even

better. Nearly 85 percent were free of pesticides, 12.3 percent had

residues below MRLs and 2.78 percent were in violation.

 

Dogheim admits that all fruit and vegetable testing is done on a

voluntary basis, but says it is in the interest of producers to

provide representative samples. An export shipment turned away at a

foreign port can cost a producer thousands. If produce is found to

exceed MRL while still in Egypt, the producer still has time to

readjust his pesticide regiment or - according to cynics - dump his

load of toxic cucumbers on the unsuspecting Egyptian public.

 

Organic producers avoid chemical pesticides altogether, seeking

instead natural solutions to their bug- and disease-control problems.

The strategies are clever. For example, farmers use traps baited with

pheromones, a hormonal love potion secreted by female insects, to

eliminate male insects. Distortion perfumes trick bugs into thinking

there's nothing worth munching on, while sticky sheets pick them out

of the air like flypaper.

 

Natural enemies of pests are employed. Farmers seed their crops with

friendly ladybugs to eat unwelcome aphids that destroy citrus groves.

Toads are invited to feast on destructive locusts and moths. And as a

last line of defense, organic bacteria and natural substances, such

as sulfur, tree resins and essential oils, are used to fight diseases

and destroy insect larvae.

 

In extreme cases, organic farmers cut their losses and start fresh.

Ali Fahmi, an organic banana producer who owns a small farm in Banha,

loses up to one-fifth of his banana trees each year to a tenacious

virus that affects their growth. A chemical solution exists, but in

order to keep his production organic, Fahmi cuts down the diseased

trees and uses them as fertilizer. It's a heavy price to pay, but

Fahmi insists the end product is worth it.

 

" The bananas are grown without any artificial chemicals and no

pesticides whatsoever, " he says. " They're not pumped with stuff to

make them look better ... they are natural and simply taste better. "

 

Cutting out chemical additives is just part of the holistic approach.

Organic agriculture respects the natural capacity of plants, animals

and the environment.

 

" Basically, you're trying to re-establish the natural ecosystem

rather than work against it, " explains Fahmi.

 

Organic farmers practice crop rotation, waste recycling and

integrated animal husbandry as part of an interactive system.

Biodynamic farmers take it a step further, calculating the influence

of cosmic rhythms on plant fertility and growth. Potatoes are seeded

during the new moon to obtain the highest yields, wood is felled

during the waning moon to prevent rot, and cows are kept happy so

they produce more milk. It all sounds very medieval or New Age, but

proponents insist it is a valid science.

 

GROWING EXPECTATIONS

The primary concern of farmers is economic feasibility. The

prevailing belief among growers is that organic farming is a risky

venture with low yields and limited returns. While many acknowledge

the success of Sekem, which reported $100 million in total revenues

last year, they are cautious about entering a new market.

 

Those who do invariably start with medicinal and aromatic plants,

arguably the easiest and most dependable organic crops to cultivate,

and in high demand overseas. Many of these plants grow wild or

require only minimal human intervention. They are also valued for

their special ability to remove toxins from polluted soils.

 

" These plants are hyper-accumulators of heavy metals, " says Dr.

Mohammed Kandil of the National Research Center. " They remove heavy

metals from the soil but do not absorb them into their essential

oils. "

 

This unusual property makes these plants an excellent transition crop

for organic producers or farmers whose tired land is otherwise

unsuitable for organic cultivation. And while lower crop yield is

often cited as a main deterrent against switching to organic methods,

Kandil's research has shown this is not always the case.

 

Kandil notes that in field studies he conducted on fennel crops, " I

discovered that there is no difference between organic and

conventional farming [of fennel] in terms of yield. Farmers in Egypt

can grow fennel using organic farming practices without substantial

loss of income. "

 

Until recently, the same could not be said for cotton, Egypt's most

important cash crop. Cotton is a magnet for countless insidious pests

that nibble and chomp its white fiber. Without an intensive regiment

of pesticides, most of the country's cotton might never make it to

market.

 

" We have a lot of insects in Egypt that attack cotton in all three

stages of its growth, " says Dr. Mahmoud el-Naggar, director of the

government-run Plant Protection Research Institute. " Our cotton-

growing areas are divided into small spaces, and there is interaction

with other crops, so that many pests come from adjacent fields. "

 

Fighting bollworms - nasty little critters that feast on cotton

seedpods - with pheromone traps, Sekem challenged the experts and

planted 35 feddans of organic cotton in 1990. The results of the

experiment were so positive that organic cultivation has spread to

nearly 1,000 feddans in Egypt.

 

" Organic cotton gives 5-10 percent higher yields than conventional

cotton, " claims Klaus Merckens, general manager of the Egyptian

Biodynamic Association (EBDA), a non-profit research and training

organization launched by Sekem.

 

The higher yield helps to offset higher labor costs. Furthermore, the

garments made of organic cotton and dyes fetch premium prices on

overseas markets. EBDA also subsidizes small farmers making the risky

conversion to organic production.

 

Farmers can't switch to organic agriculture overnight. International

regulations require that their land undergo a transition phase -

usually two years - during which no chemicals are used and organic

methods are employed. Then, provided the farm meets all standards and

samples prove free of chemical residues, the producer is certified

and permitted to label his products as " organic. " Regular inspection

visits ensure that the producer maintains compliance.

 

" The farmer has to manage a quality and production system as a

guarantee for the consumers, " says Remo Ciucciomei, chairman of

Instituto Mediterraneo di Certificazione (IMC), an Italian-based

certification body that monitors organic production in several

Mediterranean countries. " Certifying the organic agriculture process

means making inspections in order to verify the conformity of the

whole process, but especially evaluating the professional training,

knowledge and resources of the organic farm. "

 

IMC is just one of many certification bodies operating in Egypt.

While efforts are under way to unify the multiplicity of standards

systems, most producers select one compliant with EU regulations,

thereby securing access to the lucrative European market.

 

Time and capital investment act as deterrents against cheating.

Failure to comply with standards could cost the organic farmer his

certificate, and the grower would be forced to re-enter the

conventional market at a loss.

 

GREEN THINKING

Wadi Food is a company in transition. Two years ago, the gourmet-food

producer planted olive trees on 300 feddans of newly-reclaimed land

using organic methods.

 

" When we started a new farm two years ago we knew that we'd have an

advantage in exporting organic products, " says manager Khalil

Nasrallah. " If you have organic olives, especially of the kalimata

variety, you really cannot do better. "

 

The company recognized two key advantages: virgin desert land for a

clean setup, and the parent company's chicken breeding operations,

which supply plenty of manure for composting to create organic

fertilizer. Yet the desert proved challenging, since it doesn't

provide a lot of habitat for pests' natural enemies. " So if we do

have an infestation of insects, " says Nasrallah, " we might be in big

trouble. "

 

Nasrallah still recalls a run-in with some nasty, tiny worms that

frustrated the company's first attempt to go organic. The critters

made nodules in the roots of the olive trees, stunting their growth

and slowly killing them.

 

" We tried to use organic control and we brought in experts from Cairo

University, and we tried and tried for four or five years, but we had

to use chemicals in the end, " he says. " There went our attempt to be

organic. We had to go back to conventional at that time. "

 

Driven by a personal belief in organic products and the financial

incentives for producing them, Nasrallah tried again on a new plot of

land. Persistence paid off; the company expects the 300 feddans of

organic olive trees to receive international certification next

season.

 

" Definitely we will have a marketing advantage when we can

put 'organic' on the label, " he says, stressing that organic products

fetch top prices in international markets.

 

Wadi Food is now experimenting with 70 feddans of organic grapes and

will plant an additional 300 feddans of organic olives by the end of

the year.

 

" When this new land is developed and certified organic, our aim is to

go back to the conventional land and start little by little turning

it into organic, " says Nasrallah.

 

The company expects its organic products will do well in the U.S. and

Europe, but is lukewarm about the local market. Egyptian consumers

are hesitant to pay a premium for natural products, especially those

that don't conform to their preconceived notions of what the product

should look like. Olives are a good example. Every year, it seems, a

factory is shut down when health inspectors discover workers dyeing

olives to make them darker, which looks more appealing on store

shelves.

 

" We are already facing problems when we go to the market with natural

olives compared to colored olives, which have chemical dyes, " says

Nasrallah. " So if we go to the market and tell people these olives

are a little more expensive because they're 'organic,' I think it

will be very difficult for us to sell in Egypt. "

 

CONSUMER CULTURE

Dr. Youssef Hamdy, the director of the Egyptian Center of Organic

Agriculture, works hard to promote organic agriculture in Egypt,

linking producers with buyers and working to increase consumer

awareness. He says Egyptians are divided into three types of

consumers.

 

" The first kind is poor and cannot afford higher prices, the second

one is middle-class but has different priorities than [health]

safety, and the third is higher-class who can afford to buy organic

but don't know about it. "

 

Organic producers are targeting educated, upper-class Egyptians and

foreigners with enough money to afford a health-conscious diet - the

type that lurks in major supermarkets.

 

At a Mohandiseen Metro store, Dr. Nashwa Ali Abdel Kader passes over

a plump head of conventionally grown lettuce for a smaller organic

one. The clinical pathologist, a mother of two young children, says

that when it comes to fresh produce, she is willing to pay more for

fruits and vegetables grown without chemicals.

 

" While I was young I never ate organic foods, but I'm afraid for my

kids, " she says. " Nowadays we have more choices. "

 

Abdel Kader is one of many consumers who selectively purchase organic

products according to an internal formula. Some buy when the price is

only slightly higher, others go organic for products like

strawberries that are notorious for pesticides, and others stick to

organic greens.

 

" I only buy [organic] vegetables that I will use fresh, " she

says. " If I plan to cook them then it is no problem to use ordinary

vegetables. "

 

In another aisle, accountant Mohammed Kamel circumvents the Egyptian

organic olive oil to grab an Italian brand nearly three times the

price.

 

" The bottle looks better, and imported products are usually higher

quality, " he says.

 

Kamel claims he sometimes buys organic spices, but only because he

finds the prices comparable with conventional ones and the packaging

to be professional. Organic producers admit that quality presentation

suggests a quality product, and snazzy packaging sells, although the

added cost is a major expense.

 

Yet for many, attractive packaging is not enough to convince them to

pay more. They question whether a few vegetables really adds up in

the big scheme of things.

 

" Why bother? " wonders Amira Safwat. " We have polluted air, polluted

water, polluted everything. "

 

The 23-year-old construction engineer feels chemical residues in food

are the least of her worries. Egypt's polluted environment - like car

emissions, industrial fumes, contaminated water and the infamous

Black Cloud - presents far more insidious health risks.

 

Persuading Egyptians to change their consumer habits is a difficult

task, but as foreign markets grow, farmers seeking a piece of the

action have greater incentives to switch to organic. Their products

may be too expensive for most Egyptian families now, but as economies

of scale kick in prices will inevitably fall. Herbal teas, fruits and

vegetables are just the beginning. It's only a matter of time until

we see organic koshari. et