Syria Today | A Fruitful Legacy

A look inside one walnut farmer's passion for his profession

By Rana Tamimi
Photo Carole al-Farah

From 9 meters above the ground, Muhammed Moukhtar al-Henawi hailed us cheerfully to catch our eyes. "Press! Press! I'm coming!" he yelled down to us from a huge walnut tree in a field packed with fertile crops. Henawi, 38, is a farmer from Wadi Barada, 60 km northwest of Damascus. "I prefer a professional journalist to run the interview with me so I can be done quickly," he said briskly as he descended. "I have loads of work to be done before noon."

Beside the ancient Roman road built in 164 AD that leads to the prophet Habeel's tomb, we sat in the shade of a large walnut tree. Pouring tea for us, Henawi recalled how he began his career at the age of 12, when his dad taught him the basic rules of this profession – the same way as his grandfather taught his father a generation ago. Now a father of four, Henawi continued proudly, "my eldest is 16 years old, and he is following our ancestors' legacy."

Then he walked us to one of the walnut trees to demonstrate his prowess. Displaying a tremendous amount of self-confidence and power, he climbed a 12-meter-high tree in less than 10 seconds, then took a long baton from one of his assistants to shake the branches and make the walnuts fall. Having proved his balance, focus and keenness, he returned to us where we were standing under the tree with two walnuts as trophies, crushed them together with one hand, and offered us the moistly delicious sweetmeats inside. "The tallest tree I have ever climbed was 50 meters high, in Ghouta," he said proudly. "This job is extremely dangerous. Even if it doesn't kill you, one slip can maim you for life.

"The harvesting season is usually from August 20 until mid-October," Henawi said, leaning back against the tree. "I work for 45 days each season, earning a wage of SYP 300 (USD 6) to SYP 2000 (USD 41) per tree. The wage varies according to the size of the tree; it takes me approximately one hour to harvest an entire large-sized tree."

The selling price for a kilogram of walnuts right after they fall from the trees is SYP 150 (USD 3), which rises to SYP 800 (USD 16) after the nuts are gathered, peeled, cleaned, dried and crushed. Henawi sometimes negotiates with the landowner to take the walnut crop in exchange for his wage.

Henawi is considered one of the top 10 walnut harvesters in the Damascus area, according to his colleagues' rankings. "In my village, Kfair ez-Zit, we have 50 walnut farmers and harvesters, out of 7000 residents. Only 10 of them are well-trained experts; the rest are just there for the money," he said. Henawi also owns a barber shop, but continues to harvest walnuts out of passion and a sense of duty to his family's legacy. "It is not only a job. It is our culture, our history and our guarantee of continuity," he explained.

Growing walnut trees demands patience and commitment, which pays off steadily. Besides its fruits, walnut trees produce one of the finest ornamental timbers for making cabinets and weapon stocks. "Walnut is a great fortune," said Henawi. "Our grandfathers used to store figs and walnuts for their long trips in the mountains during the harsh winters, because of their high nutritional values, which provide the body with inner warmth and vital energy.

"I want my kids to spend more time in nature to learn the real meaning of life," Henawi concluded. "Farmers are sometimes much more advanced than college and high school graduates if honesty and courage are the criteria used to measure their success in life."