Analyzing in Tunisia the A&MP value chain

Tunisia hosted the Aromatics & Medicinal Plants iNet Scoping Seminar on 27 and 28 June, with the participation of various stakeholders from Tunisia, Greece, Spain, Portugal and France. The seminar was launched by three presentations to introduce the actual situation of AMPs sector in Tunisia, Spain and Greece. These presentations were very inspiring to open the debate.

During the first day different exercises (swot analysis, value chain mapping…) were employed to better characterize actors and fluxes in the value chain of these NWFP and to prioritize key themes to focus INCREDIBLE actions.

This work was addressed to identify some key themes to approach in this iNet, such as:

• Supporting production and marketing capacities
• Natural Resource Management and biodiversity conservation
• Legal framework adjustment
• Certification and traceability

A special characteristic of this NWFP is that A&MP in the Mediterranean region (Spain, France, Tunisia, Greece, Croatia, Portugal…) can be either wild or cultivated plants, but the value chain analysis focused on wild plants, identifying the main actors (collectors and industry).

The work carried out in the seminar also was useful to highlight the need of more communication and knowledge transfer between academic sector and the AMPs sector (introducing new products, improving distillation techniques…). This meeting also revealed that communication and sensitization constitute a major gap between producers and consumers.