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Tunisia Women Clam harvesters

An FAO project with a women’s clam association in Tunisia’s Gulf of Gabes helped the clam harvesters to earn more for their labour, while also incorporating sustainable practices.

Duration 5m34s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 03/05/2020 6:50 PM

File size 800.72 MB

Unique ID UF2T6N

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist LOCATIONS: Sfax, Carthage, Tunisia / Rome, Italy

DATE: December 2017, 5 March 2020

SOUND: Natural / Arabic / English

LENGTH: 05’34

SOURCE: FAO

ACCESS: ALL

Sfax,Tunisia – December 2017

1. Early hours in the morning before dawn, a group of women clam collectors walking towards port for boarding on boats that will take them to the clam harvesting area

2. Clam collectors waiting to board

3. Boats boarded with clam collectors leaving the port

4. A woman clam collector standing on boat covering up her face with scarf

5. A man started boat engine

6. Close of women on boat

7. A long shot of boat carrying women clam collectors on the sea

8. Various of boats taking women to the clam harvesting area

9. Various of women bending down collecting Tapes decussatus autochthonous clam

10. Chikha Khachroum, a clam collector bending down collecting clams and putting them into a plastic container

11. SOUNDBITE ( Arabic ) Chikha Khachroum, 40, clam collector, “ I started this work when I was 20, and now I’m 40 years old.

12. SOUNDBITE ( Arabic ) Chikha Khachroum, 40, clam collector, “ Clam harvesting began here 56 years ago.”

13. SOUNDBITE ( Arabic ) Chikha Khachroum, 40, clam collector, “ My mother harvests clams, my sister and brother harvest clams. We all do this work.”

14. Close of hand carrying a plastic container, tilt up to close up of woman

15. Woman using a tool to probe the mud

16. Close of freshly harvested clams inside a bucket

17. SOUNDBITE ( Arabic ) Soula El Aarim, 56, clam collector, “Early in the morning, we wake up at home. We get ready. We arrive to shore, get on the boats and travel to a spot along the coast. We start harvesting. Returning to shore at around 2 pm, we weigh the clams. Afterwards, we return home.

18. SOUNDBITE ( Arabic ) Soula El Aarim, 56, clam collector, “ Life is not easy for us, leaving home before dawn.”

19. SOUNDBITE ( Arabic ) Soula El Aarim, 56, clam collector, “ By 4 a.m. all the women must be aboard the boat and ready to go. Honestly, this is tiring work. By the time you get here and harvest 2-3 kilos of clams, you’re shivering from the cold. Your body suffers.”

20. Close of Soula El Aarim collecting clams

21. Wide Soula El Aarim collecting clams with other women in the sea shallow

22. Wide of women walking to port at the end of work day

23. Various of women on boat

24. Wide of women coming back on the shore at the end of their work day

25. Wide of women with their clams harvested

26. SOUNDBITE ( Arabic ) Najla Ben Mansour, president of the Association of Women Clam collectors and Development, “ [The FAO project] provided us with better clothing, boots and gloves.”

27. SOUNDBITE ( Arabic ) Najla Ben Mansour, president of the Association of Women Clam collectors and Development, “ We’re pleased with the current situation. We’re happy with the higher prices at which we’re selling now. We’re happy for the help from the Ministry.”

28. A truck at Port Zabbousa, area for collecting and selling clams

29. Wide of women with their clams at the collection area

30. Wide a weight at the clam collection area

31. Wide a sign about FAO project

32. Women on truck

33. Wide women carrying buckets walking

34. Wide women with their buckets in queue

35. Close of women

36. SOUNDBITE ( Arabic ) Najla Ben Mansour, president of the Association of Women Clam collectors and Development, “ We want this association to help women. We leave for work early in the morning and return home late in the evening. We want to work for ourselves, for our children. We want the younger women to be able to have a pension and to build a better future for themselves.”

Carthage, Tunisia - December 2017

37. Various of clam being processed at the clam purification center

Rome, Italy – 5 March 2020

38. SOUNDBITE ( English ) Audun Lem , FAO Deputy Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, “ The biggest impact on the women in this project is the fact that the prices they receive for their products is much higher than it used to be. In fact it’s about three times higher than what they received in the past. So this, in itself is bringing them more money for them and for their families and therefore improving their livelihoods, and for their families. It also allows them to improve the education of their children. It provides several benefits also to their association which is giving them more confidence in their ability to work together and achieve things that are improving the way they live.”

39. SOUNDBITE ( English ) Audun Lem , FAO Deputy Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, “It certainly improves the economic situation of the women in the project and all the families by receiving a higher price. But it also allows them to improve their situation overall and the project also teaches them how to collect and harvest the clams in a more sustainable manner by only targeting the mature, the largest specimens, leaving the younger ones for the future collection.”

ENDS

Script Did you know that the best clams for the classic Italian dish spaghetti alle vongole actually come from across the sea in Northern Africa? The Tapes decussatus autochthonous clam is native to waters surrounding the coasts of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Morocco and, thanks to its superior quality and taste, is highly popular with chefs.

Rather than being harvested through automated processes, the North African Tapes decussatus autochthonous clams are still gathered by hand, guaranteeing a high quality product.

In Tunisia, many of these sought-after clams are collected by women who work long days under the hot sun. Their direct involvement often ended after the harvest and they would earn less than USD 1 per kilo.

Realizing that there is a strong demand for the product just across the Mediterranean Sea in Italy and Southern Europe, FAO launched a project in the Gulf of Gabes, one of Tunisia’s prime clam-harvesting areas, in order to improve the efficiency of the value chain and therefore increase the income for the women clam collectors.

In this specific pilot programme, FAO, the women’s association, the Italian importer and a depuration center in Sousse, Tunisia worked together to make the value chain shorter and more effective. The women now bring the clams to the centre and weigh them themselves and, in many cases, the women were able to triple their earnings.

The new pricing increases the women’s income and allows them to improve their families’ standard of living.

In the past, the workers were completely dependent on specific market conditions where the purchase price was very low, and it was difficult for them to negotiate better prices. With the help of FAO’s project, they organized associations to give them a stronger say in the process.

The project has also incorporated simple sustainability methods into the process. The women collecting the clams have price incentives to harvest only the bigger ones, allowing for the juvenile clams to mature for the next season. This not only allows the clams to repopulate, but it also ensures the continuity of the women’s livelihoods for years to come.

In addition, FAO has also supported the creation of a databank of female clam collectors in specific regions of Tunisia in order to facilitate the government’s ability to provide social security coverage. The government now has a clearer idea of the background, education and incomes of the women working in this industry, bringing them into the public sphere and helping the government support them, their industry and its resources.

The results achieved so far are a huge step forward, but the project does not stop there. FAO continues to work towards achieving fairer prices for clam collectors in the area, not only through this project but also by creating more sustainable livelihoods throughout the year. The clam-collecting season only lasts for six months, leaving many women without permanent work for the other six months of the year. To create more consistent livelihood opportunities, FAO is working through the Blue Hope Project with local associations, including women clam collectors, in the coastal areas of Tunisia to boost sustainable eco-tourism. Encouraging tourists to take an interest in the unique way the local communities gather fish and cook with it will boost income for local communities and develop more sustainable value chains all year round.

Women must have access to equal economic opportunities if we are to end poverty, eradicate hunger and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. FAO continues to support and empower women across the world in order to eliminate hunger, boost food security and livelihoods and create a truly sustainable society.

ENDS

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