La figue en fête – Le Jeune Indépendant

A window of the local terroir.

The village of Lemsella of the town of Illoula Oumalou (wilaya of Tizi Ouzou) is about to live at the rhythm of the Figue de la Figue, in SA15ᵉ edition, scheduled for August 28 and 29. The event is organized by the cultural association Tighilt Lemsella and the village committee, with the support of several local institutions, including mainly the APC of Illoula Oumalou.

Under the patronage of the APW and the APC of Illoula Oumalou, the event benefits from the support of the Directorate of Agricultural Services, the Directorate of Culture and Arts, the Directorate of Youth and Sports, the Department of Tourism and Crafts, the Kateb Yacine Regional Theater as well as several associations known for their patronage. It should be noted that beyond its festive and friendly appearance, the Figure festival aims to be a window of the local terroir, of which the fig, emblematic fruit of the whole region of Kabylia.

It must be recognized that its culture, long perceived as a natural heritage of family orchards, however experiences enormous difficulties in the past 30 years, or even more. The fig trees are in the process of disappearing in several localities of the wilaya of Tizi Ouzou. And the consequences of the disappearance of the fig trees are considerable on the ground. A kilogram of fresh figs now costs 400 DA. The dry fig is not ceded to less than 2,000 DA per kilo. However, during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, fresh fig was not marketed. It was the subject of a donation. Ditto concerning dry fig and other seasonal fruits, such as barbarism fig and grenades. Their rarity has been that these fruits are marketed.

Also, this event from Lemssella is to be considered as an opportunity to enhance this Mediterranean fruit. If it is to be considered as an economic vector, it would be necessary to review its production design from its production, in other words proceeding to replant or grafting fig trees in sufficient number after selection, of course, because there are figs which are consumed fresh and there are some that are intended for drying and transformation. And in both, it is necessary to act on the quantitative and qualitative levels. This is the only solution for Algerian fig to be present on the stalls of supermarkets in countries around the world in the same way as those of other countries, such as Turkey, Spain, Corsica, Palestine, South Italy and so many other Mediterranean countries. In short, the fig must be an economic vector first, cultural and identity then.