Algerian women grow “red gold” saffron amid climate challenges

In Béjaïa, Algeria, rural women are growing saffron to boost health, income, and climate resilience, reported Mongabay on 29 December.

In the mountainous province of Béjaïa in Algeria, a growing group of rural women are transforming lives and landscapes through the cultivation of saffron, often called “red gold” for its high value and delicate harvest process. Faced with the mounting impacts of climate change on traditional crops and personal health challenges, Keltouma Adouane who was a teacher and became a farmer, pioneered a budding saffron sector that combines environmental adaptation, community health and economic opportunity.

Saffron is known to be one of the world’s most expensive plants as it requires extreme care and patience. Each purple flower blooms for less than three weeks a year and yields only three precious stigmas that must be hand‑picked at dawn and dried gently to preserve their aroma and quality. It takes nearly 200,000 flowers to produce one kilogram of dried saffron.

Adouane first encountered saffron during a period of serious illness in 2015. She says a saffron‑infused drink played a vital role in her recovery and ongoing health, but the spice was prohibitively expensive in Béjaïa. Determined to grow her own, she bought a kilo of saffron bulbs in 2018, despite scepticism from experts who warned the region’s humid coastal climate was unsuitable. Her gamble paid off.

“I planted them and after waiting for almost two months, the result was there,” says Adouane. “To tell you the truth, the result was truly spectacular. I was really fascinated and I couldn’t believe it when I saw the big purple carpet of flowers that emerged from the ground.”

Building on this success, Adouane joined the Association of Rural Women of Béjaïa (AFUD), gaining training in mushroom cultivation, cheesemaking and cosmetics production alongside other women. With limited flat land available in the mountainous region, her saffron cultivation has required intense manual labour and patience, but the rewards are clear as the group now produces saffron‑infused soaps, cosmetics, health supplements and even cheese.

Adouane explains that saffron’s adaptability to warmer and drier conditions makes it a promising crop in an era of climate uncertainty. “Saffron is really valuable, it’s known as ‘red gold’ and can sell for 70,000 euros per kilogram,” she says. “It is a great crop for these times of global warming as climate change has greatly affected our region … many farmers now hesitate to embark on large scale planting of any crop due to the lack of rain.”

The women’s saffron harvest has drawn interest from herbalists, spice producers and fitness clubs that value the spice as a dietary supplement and in cosmetic products but Adouane notes that marketing remains a challenge for some growers in other regions.

Adouane’s long‑term vision is to empower more women who lack income by expanding education, training and saffron production across Algeria. She has begun experimenting with cultivation in the Sahara oases, reporting “a magnificent result.”

National policy is also shifting in saffron’s favour. In 2025, the Algerian government launched a national strategy to develop saffron cultivation, aiming to use scientific research to improve production, develop new seed varieties and add economic value through expanded processing and marketing. This effort is part of a broader push to diversify agriculture and strengthen the rural economy.

As global demand for functional foods and natural health products increases including research into saffron’s bioactive compounds for cognitive and metabolic health benefits, Algeria’s blossoming saffron sector holds promise not only for economic resilience but also for community health and environmental adaptation.

Mongabay and Maghrebi.org