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Women’s path to financial independence? In Tunisia, the hot stuff.

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In Tunisia’s pepper-growing region 125 miles south of Tunis, women have relied on farming and harvesting chile peppers on other people’s lands for generations. The peppers were sent to factories in the capital that churned out the harissa served on tables across the country.

Smokey, savory, and packing a punch, the bright crimson pepper paste has long been a culinary do-all for Tunisians. Harissa is such a staple that Tunisia petitioned UNESCO in 2020 to add the condiment to the world’s intangible cultural heritage list.

Why We Wrote This

The spicy condiment harissa is such a valued staple in Tunisia that it created an opportunity for skilled rural women to work together to gain more security, equity, and financial independence.

But working on other people’s farms was a hard life for the women. Long hours, dangerous commutes, meager wages. Seven years ago, Najwa Dhaflawi had had enough. Her answer: band women together to produce their very own harissa, free of middle-men – or any men.

She created Errim, an all-rural-women’s cooperative through which village women plant, cultivate, and harvest the peppers, then produce harissa themselves. The business has created a peppery path to independence.

“We were tired of being taken advantage of,” Ms. Dhaflawi says as workers prep for the next bushel of peppers in the cooperative’s spotless workshop. “We wanted to work in a safe environment; to protect one another. And to be paid fair wages.”

Kairouan, Tunisia

Smoky, savory, and packing a punch, the bright crimson pepper paste has long been a culinary do-all for Tunisians.

Harissa adds spice to soup and sizzle to sandwiches, turns couscous caliente, and can serve simply as a fiery dip.

Often eaten twice a day, harissa is such a staple in Tunisia that the government petitioned UNESCO in 2020 to add the condiment to the world’s intangible cultural heritage list.

Why We Wrote This

The spicy condiment harissa is such a valued staple in Tunisia that it created an opportunity for skilled rural women to work together to gain more security, equity, and financial independence.

But for Najwa Dhaflawi and the rural women of Kairouan in central Tunisia, harissa has meant something more – a peppery path to independence.

In the village of Menzel Mehiri, 125 miles south of Tunis in the heart of Tunisia’s pepper belt, women have relied on farming and harvesting the chile peppers on other people’s lands for generations. The peppers were sent to factories in the capital that churned out the harissa served on tables across the country.

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