Aid Fund Organic Olive Farmers Italy Italy: the rescue operation

At the end of 2021, when the olive harvests on Liguria’s coasts were very poor, organic olive growers consoled themselves with the past very good year 2020 and the hope for the following year 2022.

In fact, after a good yield, the olive trees need a kind of recovery period, which usually has the effect that a good year is followed by a less good one. So last winter there was no real cause for concern for olive growers in the region.

But a little later the mood began to tip. Especially in the months of January and February there was almost no rain. These are the two months during which the olive trees form their inflorescences. If there is too little water during this period, the tree responds directly by reducing the formation of flowers. And if there are too few flowers on the trees already in the beginning of the year, it directly affects the harvest in the fall.

Thus, the year 2022 already began with a bad situation for organic olive growers in Liguria. But the real gau followed in the summer of 2022. For months there was almost no rain on the coast. The hardest hit regions were further north in Italy, but there was also no water on Liguria’s coasts. The result: the already too few olives fell from the branches for lack of water, every day, every week of drought.

Thus, today – two weeks before the harvest begins – almost no olives on the trees. This in turn means that harvesting is often not worthwhile at all. If you’re standing in front of a tree with only a handful of olives on it, it’s not worth harvesting the whole tree. Thus, for many farms, the harvest will fail completely.

And the failure of the harvest means for the organic olive growers equally also the complete loss of the yield – and this after a very bad previous year, in which they already had almost no income.

In addition, after the harvest this fall, 2022 will be the expenses for the new year. Pruning trees, fertilizing with organic fertilizer after a price explosion this year. Protecting the trees, etc. So: no income and expenses that you can not handle.

The consequences of the 2022 climate crisis for organic olive growers

Most organic olive farmers in the region are threatened in their existence. No income for two years and expenses that can not afford. Some are facing the end. The consequences

Organic farm task
Switch to conventional agriculture
Saving of the sustainably necessary measures like fertilizing
Switching to other forms of agriculture

Some farmers already work to feed their families, as bus drivers or teachers. However, this does not allow them to take sufficient care of their farms. The vicious circle continues.

Foundation of the Aid Fund Organic Olive Farmers Italy “Rete Tesori della Riviera

Alberto Dalpiaz, a farmer of Organic Farming Italy and the vice president of the Liguria Association of Organic Farmers has reacted and created an organization to alleviate the situation, the “Rete Tesori della Riviera”. It is a non-profit association of farmers and service providers of organic olive oil production on the West Ligurian coast. The organization’s goal is to mitigate the worst effects of the drought and save organic olive farmers.