Tunis, August 13 (TAP/ Meriem Khadraoui) - Women are increasingly being recognised for their leadership in fields long reserved for men. Raoudha Massoudi, an energy engineer and president of the Tunisian Association of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (ATRC), is a living example of a successful immersion in a so-called “male” profession, cold chain technology.
A graduate of the National Engineering School of Monastir in 2005, Massoudi continued her learning journey in the same sector she loves: energy engineering. She eventually earned her master’s degree in this field from the same school.
Convinced that climate action also includes the issue of cold, she has oriented her work within the Tunisian Association of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning toward Africa, the continent most affected by the climate crisis and also the most concerned with food waste issues and, by extension, food security.
Today, she focuses her efforts on women, hoping for greater female involvement in cold chain professions. “First, because it’s a beautiful profession, and second, because women can succeed, thanks to their iron will, in every field,” she said in an interview with TAP.
She went on: “Women are meticulous, and when they commit to a task, they carry it out perfectly. That’s why I believe they will succeed in manufacturing, maintenance, repair, or installation work for air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment.”
A trainer at the Sectoral Training Centre for Hotel Maintenance in Tabarka, and now an international expert in refrigeration, the Tunisian woman, in her forties, is responsible for mobilising women in Africa in the cold sector within the Union of African Associations of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Stakeholders (U-3ARC).
She has conducted training in several African countries, including Burkina Faso, in professions involving the handling of refrigeration and air-conditioning systems.
As part of her involvement in this Pan-African union, which is gaining increasing recognition worldwide, Raoudha was among the initiators of the “Charity Kpabek Award.”
Launched in 2022 in tribute to Charity Kpabek, a distinguished Nigerian professional and trainer who worked extensively in the cold sector and passed away in 2021, this award honours African women in the refrigeration, air-conditioning, and air-treatment (RAC) sector. Winners receive a Certificate of Appreciation and a symbolic prize of $500.
Affable, generous, and always in good spirits, Massoudi enjoys sharing her expertise, but she works discreetly and prefers tangible results. She nonetheless acknowledges that, to involve more women in so-called “male” sectors, much greater awareness and media outreach efforts are needed, along with a change in mentality upstream, starting with graduate career guidance.
For her part, she does what she can. Thanks to the work of African refrigeration and air-conditioning associations, including the Tunisian association she leads, many more women are now traveling, fully funded, for training, mainly in Italy, to obtain certifications in refrigeration and air-conditioning.
When asked about employment opportunities in the cold chain sector, Raoudha replied that, in today’s context of global warming, there is room for everyone and no shortage of opportunities for managers and engineers.
What is lacking, according to her, “are skilled technicians and workers.” The absence of adequate infrastructure and the nature of on-site maintenance and repair work generally discourage women from entering these trades.
Moreover, there are few women and girls in Tunisia’s 49 training centres, and “our country lags behind other African countries in integrating women into these fields.” Statistics from ATRC and UNIDO (2020) show that only 20 young women were trained in the refrigeration and cold sector between 2018 and 2020.
According to the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), an independent intergovernmental organisation, women are severely underrepresented in the sector, as evidenced by the fact that only 6% of the members of national refrigeration sector associations/organisations/institutions are women.
In a world increasingly vulnerable to climate change, the cold chain is essential for reducing food loss and waste in Africa and globally.
UNEP and other sources estimate that food waste accounts for about 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions—several times the emissions of the aviation sector.
The economic cost of food loss and waste is estimated at about $1 trillion worldwide, according to the same source.
Establishing a strong and secure cold chain could, experts say, help reduce these losses and contribute to achieving food security in Africa.
Raoudha Massoudi, mother of two daughters aged 15 and 13, remains optimistic. She believes that perseverance and goodwill can always pave the way to success.
Most recently, in June 2025, she and her colleagues launched a company producing cleaning products for air-conditioning units, “highly sought after in Tunisia,” she noted.
She also plans to continue her efforts in favour of women in Tunisia and Africa, working with national agencies (such as ANPE) and international organisations (such as UNIDO) to support young women and help them open workshops for maintaining air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment, an initiative that could open the door to greater female integration into the cold sector.
English: Samir Ben Romdhane
