Creating Sustainable CommunitiesWorking with cooperatives producing argan oil is one of the few opportunities for paid work for women in rural Morocco.
This thesis describes the importance of this work for women at three different cooperatives in Morocco and give recommendations to measures on how to ensure that women’s authority, economic independence and living conditions should be further improved.
Read the whole dissertation here (in English): Tree of Empowerment – Benedicte Westre Skog.
Why protecting the Argan forest is so important
The Argan tree is an 80-million-year-old relic tree species exclusively endemic in southwestern Morocco.
The Argan forest constitutes a specific biotope that has been declared as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1998.
The Argan tree grows very slowly, but it is extremely resistant. It can live for 150 years or more, and because of its deep root system, it can survive long periods of drought. Therefore, the Argan tree is often considered as an ultimate warrior when the desert is encroaching.
Women’s Argan Oil Cooperatives in Morocco
Let’s make a difference together!
Argan Care works with an organization in Morocco to help carry out all the practical parts of the project. The organization, Ibn Al Baytar, has a long history of great success in Morocco. The founder, Dr. Zoubida Charrouf, is known as “the Godmother of Argan”, being the one that first discovered the scientific properties of the Argan tree and the creator of the first ever established women’s cooperative in Morocco.
Why protecting the Argan forest is so important
The Argan tree is an 80-million-year-old relic tree species exclusively endemic in southwestern Morocco. The Argan forest constitutes a specific biotope that has been declared as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1998. The Argan tree grows very slowly, but it is extremely resistant. It can live for 150 years or more, and because of its deep root system, it can survive long periods of drought. Therefore, the Argan tree is often considered as an ultimate warrior when the desert is encroaching.
Our recent news
It’s been a good start to the year! Despite everything going on in the world at the moment, we are super thrilled and very grateful for being able to keep the wheels turning. We kicked off our new project in Morocco this month (February 2021) finishing the planning of the garden and getting to work […]
