"Egyptian farmers behind world’s perfumes face climate fight alone" 25 August 2025

As temperatures rise, he said, the flowers bloom less and his daily harvest has dropped from six kilograms to just two or three in the past two years. In this fertile pocket of the delta, jasmine has sustained thousands of families like 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 hand-pick 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...

According to the country’s largest processor, A Fakhry & Co, Egypt produces nearly half the world’s jasmine concrete, a waxy extract from the plant that provides a vital base for designer fragrances and is a multi-million dollar export...

Child labour remains widespread in Egypt with 4.2 million children working in agriculture, industry and services, often in unsafe or exploitative conditions... Global brands charge up to $6,000 per kilogram of jasmine absolute, the pure aromatic oil derived from the concrete and used by perfumeries, but Egyptian pickers earn just 105 Egyptian pounds ($2) per kilogram... Last June, pickers staged a rare strike, demanding 150 pounds per kilogram...Every year farmers earn less and less, while a heating planet threatens the community’s entire livelihood...