Farmers behind the world’s perfumes face climate fight alone

For years, Egyptian jasmine picker Wael al-Sayed has collected blossoms by night in the Nile Delta, supplying top global perfume houses.

- MENNA FAROUK

But in recent summers, his basket has felt lighter and the once-rich fragrance is fading.

“It’s the heat,” said Mr Sayed, 45, who has spent nearly a decade working the fields in Shubra Balula, a quiet village about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Cairo and a key hub for Egypt's jasmine industry.

As temperatures rise, he said, the flowers bloom less and his daily harvest has dropped from six kilogrammes to just two or three in the past two years.

In this fertile pocket of the delta, jasmine has sustained thousands of families like Mr Sayed’s for generations, but rising temperatures, prolonged dry spells and climate-driven pests are putting that legacy at risk.

From June to October, families, including children, traditionally head into the fields between midnight and dawn to handpick jasmine at peak fragrance.

With yields shrinking, some are leaving the trade entirely and those that have stayed now work longer hours.

More children are also being pulled in to help and often stay up all night to pick before going to school.

Child labour remains widespread in Egypt with 4.2 million children working in agriculture, industry and services, often in unsafe or exploitative conditions, according to a 2023 state study.