Empowering smallholder olive growers in northwest Tunisia through an agroecological business model

Rihab Mejri^1*Mohamed Zied Dhraief¹Asma Souissi²Boubaker Dhehibi³Meriem Oueslati¹Andres Camilo Charry⁴Aymen Frija³Hassen Ouerghemmi³Ali M Oumer³Mahdi Fendri⁵Ajmi Larbi⁵

• ¹Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie (INRAT), Ariana, Tunisia
• ²Higher School of Agriculture of Mograne, Zaghouan, Tunisia
• ³International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Tunisia, Tunisia
• ⁴Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT, Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
• ⁵Institut de l'Olivier, Tunis, Sfax, Tunisia

Olive cultivation struggles with climate change, resource degradation, and price volatility. Agroecology is considered as the mainstream model for transforming agriculture toward sustainable agri-food systems within the given economic and political context. This study aims to conduct an agroecological assessment of the current business model of the olive growers and to develop an upgraded integrating the agroecological practices in northwest Tunisia. A participative approach based on workshops with stakeholders in the olive oil value chain was conducted. In addition, a Business Model Canvas (BMC), followed by the application of the Business Agroecology Criteria Tool (B-ACT) was used. The results show that six principles (co-creation of knowledge, social value and diets, fairness, connectivity, land and natural resource governance, and participation) are integrated within the existing BMC, but hold significant promise for enhancement within an upgraded BMC focuses on economic diversification, niche market penetration, and heritage preservation. The establishment of an Olive Growers' Association is geared towards empowering olive growers, fostering collaboration and access to resources, knowledge exchange, collective decision-making, and co-learning in sustainable food systems. Moreover, integrating olive oil processing, conditioning, and marketing into the Olive Growers' association ensures quality control, streamlines operations, and enhances value across the olive growers' BMC.