Yahoo TV

STORY: A vibrant orange field of calendula flowers in Egypt's Fayoum region, at the start of the annual harvest.

Amid a gloomy outlook for Egypt's precarious economy, the rising cost of calendula, also known as the common marigold, is a bright spot for the country's farmers.

They're used in industries from cosmetics and pharmaceuticals to traditional medicine.

Gaber Mohamed owns a calendula farm. He says the flowers are harvested every ten or 15 days over a six-month period.

"These flowers are exported to Russia, Ukraine, the United States and Iran, bringing hard currency into the country and creating employment opportunities at the same time."

Like other Egyptian businesses, the farmers have been hit by record inflation in Egypt.

Mohamed said fertilizer and pesticide prices have hiked, but demand for calendula has more than doubled the price from about $0.063 a kilo to $0.13.

Farmer Shabaan Ahmed:

"I grew up watching my grandparents and their grandparents farming this product. It's a type of plant that we cannot do without. It brings hard currency into the country and we produce it every year, creating employment. It's a constant season that we cannot skip or substitute. There is no substitute for it at all."

Calendula are known locally as moonflowers because they prefer cooler weather.

They are planted during the autumn months with a bloom season spanning from November to May.