Climate Action Morocco Project #27457

Argan Nursery and Forest in Essaouira, Morocco

by High Atlas Foundation

Project Report | May 30, 2019
THE BEST IS YET TO COME

By CHOUHAB Houria | HAF Volunteer

On the 22nd of May in a commune called Ounagha 25km away from Marrakech MOGADOR Cooperative, a women’s cooperative of Argan products and Amlou, had a meeting with The High Atlas Foundation’s team and the ambassadors of FRÉ Skin Care. Both FRÉ and HAF execute activities within this cooperative, benefitting the women and their kids.

The women who work in this cooperative have always the habit of welcoming their guests with “Youyous”, Moroccan chants in special ceremonies. The members of both HAF and FRÉ praised the hard work of these women inside the cooperative and encouraged them to step forward in order to go through the international market. The women, in return, expressed their happiness with this visit and articulated the changes that have happened in their lives since they integrated into the cooperative. One of the women explained that she grew up with the Argan tree that is now her source of living.

As in any place in Morocco, tea is always served as a sign of hospitality, but what was special that day is what accompanied the tea: Argan oil and Amlou (Mixture of almond, argan oil, pure honey, and sesame). The smell of Argan filled the room, seducing you to enjoy the richness of a deep-rooted tree.

People are not the only beneficiaries of the Argan tree, the cattle also benefit from eating the outside of the Argan fruit. Argan oil can be also used in Tagines- imagine the taste of a goat’s meat Tagine (goat in most areas of Essaouira are fed from Argan tree) with vegetables and Argan oil. This was exactly the dish made in the cooking class that followed the tea break, in which HAF and FRÉ members made lunch following the instruction of the cooperative’s women.

Following this amusing visit to the cooperative, we headed to Essaouira to meet some journalists from the American Embassy to shoot a documentary with Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, HAF’s president, about the coexistence between religions in Morocco. The shooting took place in the Jewish cemetery, the synagogue Rabbi Haïm Pinto, and Synagogue Slat Attia. During the interview, Dr. Ben-Meir mentioned a beautiful example that demonstrates the fraternity between people who adhere to different faiths but who all believe in Humanity: Muslim men burying their Christian brother in the Christian cemetery. This may sound like an ordinary act that doesn’t need mentioning, but if we contemplate, we will feel the unity that this world needs to activate in order to achieve peace.

Last week, a good initiative has been launched in Casablanca, and that we also implemented together in Essaouira, where young people planted olive trees in three places of worship of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. For more insights, read the article: https://world.einnews.com/article_detail/485594617/dpZns_0PTT5sGrCU?n=2&code=I5p3xRh7196OtpCd&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morocco+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+Morocco+%29+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+%29+Search+Results&utm_content=article

The visit to Essaouira came to its end, but our journey was still to be marked by another happy moment in order to be completed. In our way back to Marrakech, our HAF team had to stop in Chichaoua in order to break the fast. We parked the car and chose a café to partake in food, but we were surprised to know that the Iftar meal (a meal with which Muslims break their Fast at sunset during Ramadan) was for free to whoever stops by the place and that the only thing to be paid was the parking. Watching the sun set behind the mountains and the stars slowly arrived and made me think of my day which was about to end, but with HAF, the best is always yet to come.

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Apr 22, 2019
True to the Roots

By Houria CHOUHAB | HAF Volunteer

One of the good feelings is walking into a place for the first time and having flashbacks to childhood memories, and this is exactly what happened during my visit to the MOGADOR Cooperative.

The Cooperative is in the center of Ounagha, 25 km from Essaouira, and it is surrounded by Argan trees which give the Cooperative a special charm. When you first step into in the building, you see different products on the roof: Argan oil with its main forms, pure honey, and Amlou. Each roof tells stories of multiple steps, manually most of the time, to obtain an organic edible or cosmetic product.

The women who work inside of the Cooperative respect certain steps in order to produce Argan oils. The first step lies in harvesting the Argan nuts and this step itself can be done through two ways: the first and common way is to collect the Argan nuts that fall from the trees, and the second method is to collect the nuts which goats spit out after eating the fleshy layer of the fruit. This step is done either in July or early August.

Once Argan is harvested, they get dried in open air and then get crushed between two stones in order to reach the outer of the Argan nut with its hard brown skin. This gets manually cracked as well between two hard stones to get to the kernels where the amazing oil sits. Then, there is the step of separating the kernels from the cracked layers so as to start the extraction process. It is necessary to note that there are different extraction methods according to the type of oil wanted. Extracting the edible Argan oil demands roasting the kernels while the cosmetic does not.

All these processes came to my mind as I was promenading through the Cooperative and projected the old memories onto the actual space. If you stop by the roof, chit chat will grab your attention and invite you to check its source, to find yourself in a hall with about ten women intensively working and engaging in talks at the same time. A traditional mill attracted me and I wanted to bring those memories back to the present life, so I decided to enjoy grinding the kernels in the mill. The smell of the roasted kernels reinforces this charm and reminds that we are taking a clean air in place of the pollution of the city.

In order to keep the continuity of these magical moments, the High Atlas Foundation partnering with FRÉ Skincare offered 100 Argan plants to this Cooperative, which was glad to receive them. Women left their hall and joined us in front of the cooperative to plant an Argan tree.

Before departing from this joy, my eyes spotted two beautiful twin girls playing around the roof peacefully. Watching these two identical girls made me reflect on my two identities as both Swiri [from the Essaouira region] and a Marrakchi girl. Thank you HAF for giving me the opportunity to revisit my roots.

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Jan 22, 2019
Morocco Environment and Sustainability News Round-Up: 10th-18th January

By Manon Burbidge | HAF Intern - Marrakech

Morocco to Invest $14bn in Renewable Energy

Morocco is working towards achieving its goal of 52% renewable energy by 2030 by putting $14bn of investment into the renewable energy sector.

Included amongst larger scale projects are installations of off-grid solar capacity which will reach 1000 rural villages in the country.

This project will reduce energy import dependency, currently at 93%, and is hoped to create a surplus which can be exported.

Agroforestry Initiatives to Empower Women and Increase Climate Resilience

All-women’s cooperatives in the Rif Mountains surrounding Ouezzane have struggled with 2018’s olive and fig harvests due to unstable weather – drought in the summer and heavy rain in the autumn – as a result of climate change.

Local women have formed a group of economic interest (GEO), named “Femmes du Rif”, bringing together cooperatives which produce olive oil.

They are using traditional agroforestry methods to grow olive and fig trees, which combat desertification and soil erosion, alongside annual crops such as wheat and fava beans.

“Clean and High Efficient Cooling” Workshop to take place in Marrakech

The United Nations Environment Programme and implementing partners will conduct a “Clean and High Efficient Cooling in Morocco” workshop from 29^th-30^th January in Marrakech.

The two-day seminars will present the results of a feasibility analysis of a district cooling system, provide trainings for engineers and urban planners, and discuss the next steps needed to accelerate clean cooling for Morocco.

Tender Issued for 200MW Photovoltaic Projects in Morocco

Morocco’s Office National de l’Electricité has started the process of deploying its 200MW Photovoltaic energy generation scheme under the Noor Atlas projects.

The projects are co-financed by the German Development Bank, the European Investment bank and the French Development Agency, among others.

Seven plants will be constructed, each of 20-30MW, in the south and east of the country.

Other solar projects in the pipeline include the 120MW Noor Tafilalet plant, the 200MW Noor Argana plant and the 800MW Midelt project, all of which will help Morocco attain its goal of adding a 2GW energy capacity to the grid by 2020.

Morocco’s Amazigh People Rally for Recognition of their New Year

Hundreds of Moroccan Amazigh people gathered in Rabat to mark the Amazigh New Year, in call for official state recognition of the date.

Yennayer, or new year, marks the start of 2969, and is the anniversary of the ascent of King Sheshong to the Egyptian throne.

Manon is a postgraduate student of Human Ecology at Lund University, Sweden, currently interning with HAF in Marrakech.

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