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00:00 Tucked between the hills and lakes of Benimtiyeh in Tunisia's northwest,
00:03 Ahmed Zghal's greenhouses has a unique animal, silkworms.
00:08 In these troughs, silkworms grow through their whole life cycle, from larva to cocoon.
00:13 On this second breeding bed, the worms are a little more advanced.
00:19 They're in the last larval stage.
00:22 They've already started weaving silk thread to produce silkworm cocoons.
00:27 Here we see a worm which is beginning to have transparency.
00:31 We say a worm which is ready to drool, but that means to give silk.
00:40 The final product?
00:42 The cocoon.
00:43 It is woven with the help of little structures placed on the ground to help the worms.
00:48 They feed on mulberry leaves throughout their life cycles.
00:52 It will spin 1,500 meters, about one and a half kilometers of thread per cocoon, which
00:57 gives a very solid material.
00:59 It's one of the strongest materials in the world.
01:02 Outside, workers harvest mulberry leaves, the essential source of protein to feed the
01:07 worms.
01:10 Ahmed exports part of the silk he produces, but he also creates his own brand of decorative
01:15 products and silk lampshades from the unprocessed cocoons we saw in the greenhouse.
01:22 The great thing about this material is that instead of spinning, weaving and requiring
01:26 an entire industrial chain which is energy intensive, and which unfortunately pollutes
01:30 the environment, we have focused on its purest form, all handmade, and which doesn't require
01:37 any chemicals to produce.
01:42 This craft sphere, silk shades attract customers.
01:46 I'm really surprised with the result.
01:48 It seems like cotton.
01:50 It's light, it's beautiful to look at.
01:52 It's a real discovery.
01:56 Ahmed is targeting the local and foreign markets and already exhibited his products in Paris.