UNCTAD organized a session on Building Partnerships within Olive Oil Value Chains at the SwitchMed Connect 2016 conference in Barcelona, Spain on 20 October.
The session brought together Mediterranean stakeholders from the olive oil value chain, to share experiences and identify potential actions and partnership opportunities to advance sustainable consumption and production of olive oil in the Mediterranean region.
Panellists included representatives from business associations such as the Foreign Trade Association (FTA) and the Spanish Inter-professional Olive Oil Association. Small producers exporting premium olive oil to Europe and North America such as the Société l'Oleastre (Morocco) and Ely Séide (France and Tunisia) and rural cooperatives such as Ariaf Kissane (Morocco) were also represented.
Speakers underlined how olive oil production can contribute to sustainable livelihoods, women's empowerment and biodiversity conservation. They also emphasized the importance of consumer awareness and marketing efforts and highlighted the contribution of producer associations to the development of the olive oil sector.
Finally, participants discussed how trade can support the development of sustainable and high value added olive oil production in the Mediterranean and in what ways sustainable sourcing practices can play a key role to this end.
- UNCTAD session at SwitchMed Connect
- UNCTAD National Green Export Reviews: Technical assistance activities to advance a green economy
This session also provided UNCTAD with an opportunity to share the results of the recently concluded Moroccan National Green Export Review which demonstrated the competitiveness of sustainable olive oil production as well as its positive environmental and social impact.
UNEP MAP Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production, which coordinated the SwitchMed Connect 2016, actively supported the organisation of the session.
SwitchMed Connect is an annual gathering of entrepreneurs, UN agencies, government representatives, leading start-ups and financial institutions working to promote Sustainable Consumption and Production as well as eco and social innovation in the Mediterranean.
