At the beginning of the PAMPAT 1 project, the organic prickly pear processing sector in Tunisia counted only five companies.

In order to develop this value chain, UNIDO in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture initiated a training program for young entrepreneurs to support them in setting up their businesses and to obtain the organic certification. Over the last three years, the number of operators has increased by 6.

34 companies as well as 14 young people with new investment ideas are currently supported by the PAMPAT project. In the governorate of Kasserine, the national production center for prickly pears,

the development has been particularly striking. In 2014 only one company was processing prickly pears; today, the number has reached 14.

Since PAMPAT project start investments in this sector have amounted to 15 million Tunisian dinars; and about 1,000 permanent and seasonal jobs have been created, mainly for women.