Wines produced by the cooperative union Les Vignerons de Carthage, formerly known as the Union Centrale des Coopératives Viticoles of Tunisia, have won awards across the globe in countries such as France, Belgium, the UK, Canada and China. A well-coordinated association of cooperatives overseeing some 9,000ha of vineyards has made these accolades possible.
“There’s a great collaborative dynamic between the cooperative union’s management, who handle prospecting new markets as well as marketing wines and ensuring their quality, and individual co-operatives, which take care of winegrowers’ day-to-day needs, like providing technical assistance and supplying inputs,” says Amor Slama, the former president of Les Vignerons de Carthage.
Having just 5ha on average, Tunisian winegrowers cannot make a good living if they operate independently. This is where the cooperative union comes in. Founded in 1948, it commits to buying members’ crops at a fair price and offers pre-financing for the purchase of grapes.
Read the rest at The Africa Report
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