Plant Organic Fruit Trees with African Farmers

Farmers in Morocco are experiencing unprecedented challenges brought about by extreme droughts, high temperatures, and other impacts of climate change.

The High Atlas Foundation (HAF) has developed long-standing projects focused on organic fruit and nut tree agriculture in order to adapt to these conditions while enabling farming families to grow, harvest, process, and sell endemic agricultural products.

HAF’s sustainable agriculture program is achieving widespread success from its inception, and especially within this year.

The essential basis for the program’s achievements is the farming communities’ management of their own development.

In 2024, HAF assisted farming families in planting 1,040,183 trees in 10 of the 12 regions in Morocco. We also sewed over 3.2 million seeds in the 10 community nurseries supported by HAF, all with the intent of realizing the livelihood goals of farming families and enhancing agricultural diversity.

Based on fruit tree varieties prioritized by farmers of Morocco, these trees primarily include olive but also almond, argan, carob, cherry, fig, grape, mulberry, pomegranate, and walnut, as well as other forestry trees and herb species.

This year’s tree distribution has already benefited 2,479 farming families, providing them with resources to improve their agricultural practices in a sustainable manner.

HAF emphasizes a participatory empowerment approach in all of its projects, where rural community members are actively engaged in the process of project design and shaping the agricultural paths that they see best for themselves.

By empowering local communities through this participatory method, HAF aims to foster sustainable land use that reflects the specific needs and goals of each farmer.

This promotes resilience and self-sufficiency of their agricultural practices far into the future, beyond HAF’s facilitation.

The real impact of HAF’s tree planting is seen in the large impact it has had on farmers and their families. For example, one farmer from a village in the Souq Tolba municipality of the Larache province, after receiving olive trees from HAF, expressed his appreciation at the quality of them.

He had previously purchased the same species of trees in the past, but were of lower quality.

A farmer from another village, Kahf-n-Sour, had similar issues with the quality of seedlings he had received in the past.

While this farmer had a passion for sustainable agriculture and caring for his land, his capacity was severely limited by the quality of crops he was able to produce.

After being visited by a HAF tree monitoring officer who brought him some of HAF’s seeds, he also expressed admiration for their quality. He said, “These seedlings are completely different. I can feel their strength.”

Farmers in the Taroudant province express that HAF’s tree planting initiative has turned their own challenges into successes. Traditionally, these farmers grew oranges and melons that require a lot of water.

But, in collaboration with HAF, they began planting trees that are more resilient to drought by requiring less water (such as olive, carob , and fig). The results from this transition have been significant.

Farmers who received the trees from HAF are now thrilled with their harvests each season. Inspired by the widespread success, many of them are planting more trees and expanding their lands while using less water to take advantage of their new opportunities.

The shift has not only supported their livelihoods on a greater scale but also simultaneously promotes sustainable farming and care for land in the region.

Tree planting does not only benefit the farmers who receive the trees but also all people involved in maintaining the nurseries in which they grow.

Mohammed El Assri is a dedicated caretaker at the Ouaouizeghtnursery in Beni-Mellal Khenifra region, and has been a part of HAF since 2020.

Married with three children, he found the opportunity to work close to home, which was a perfect fit for his family life.

When Mohammed first joined the nursery, production levels were modest, but he quickly noticed the potential for growth.

Over the years, significant progress has been made. Before joining HAF, there were only two argan trees in his hometown of Azilal.

Inspired to make a change, he thought, "Why not produce more?" Now, thanks to HAF, Mohammed works on planting argan trees, benefiting farmers from all around the region. Instead of just two trees, there are now many more !

Now, the nursery distributes over 100,000 trees each year, a remarkable increase that reflects the hard work and commitment of the entire team.

New equipment–seven greenhouses and a solar water pump system–has been added that makes operations much smoother.

This transformation has not gone unnoticed. The community has recognized the nursery's evolution, and today, the Ouaouizeght  nursery stands out as a well-known and respected source of trees to all the neighboring villages.

Through his journey, Mohammed has witnessed firsthand the impact of dedicated teamwork and community support in creating a greener future.

Going forward, HAF plans to expand its reach to work with more farming communities across the nation. While the over one million trees planted with farming families and 3.2 million seeds planted in community tree nurseries all in the past year signifies an incredible milestone, HAF hopes to utilize this momentum to plant even more and promote sustainable agriculture everywhere.

With partners and communities, we are already committed to plant five million seeds in nurseries during the 2025 season.

Vitally, HAF’s system of monitoring trees has received international certification in order to generate carbon offset credit units, creating an additional source of revenue for farming families of Morocco.

This creates the opportunity for individuals and groups in and outside Morocco to participate in achieving the tree growing dreams of farming communities in all parts of the country.

Recent assertions have suggested that tree planting is not as effective a climate solution as once thought. Bill Gates argued in 2023 that the idea of planting enough trees to solve the climate crisis is “complete nonsense,” and the efficacy of tree planting has been a widely debated topic.

While it is clear that only planting trees cannot solve the world’s climate issues, nor will any single action, arguments for moving away from it altogether are often dismissive of the true potential that culturally-appropriate and holistic tree programs can have within larger development initiatives.

The value of the number of trees planted toward mitigating climate impacts must be measured in consideration with the number of women empowered, the number of farming terraces constructed, the number of water pipes installed, the number of family incomes stabilized, and all other measures involved in community development.

Tree Planting Done Wrong

Studies against tree planting as climate action often highlight the impact of underdeveloped tree planting programs, including poor growth rates, destruction of native ecosystems, and monoculture plantations that store minimal carbon.

Such negative effects do exist globally where improperly implemented projects overlook a region’s environmental and social contexts. In fact, tree planting solely for economic gain (often the case with misdirected companies or individuals at the helm), is counterproductive to climate mitigation goals. The true value of tree planting can only be determined when examining them as a whole, from a project’s conception to its wider development impacts.

A Holistic View of Tree Planting

Few people claim that tree planting is a cure-all solution to our environmental crisis, but opposition to tree planting as a major strategy ignores the carefully thought-out projects involving endemic species and local people that have significant, far-reaching impacts.

A truly sustainable initiative must begin with a community’s own indication of their goals, leading to locally developed action plans to achieve those goals. That is to say, a tree planted is not simply a tree but an embodiment of a community’s discovery of these goals and determination to achieve them.

Studies have shown the important value that tree planting projects can have so long as they have clear, locally-determined goals, coordinated efforts between all stakeholders, and a focus on entire ecosystems over single trees.

People plant trees for a number of different reasons including environmental restoration, economic benefit, and cultural or spiritual values. Therefore, the number of trees planted cannot be seen as the end goal but rather a single step in a multi-faceted movement towards development.

It is critical that tree planting be appreciated not only for the trees themselves, but also for their role in the empowerment journeys of communities, the construction of vital agriculture and water infrastructure, the enhancement of food and water security, and the overall fostering of long-term community resilience.

A Model of Planting Trees for Development

When tree planting is launched as a component of larger development, it often results not only in agroforestry-related outcomes, but also other indicators like higher literacy rates, increases in girls’ participation in education, water and school infrastructure, and other vital priorities that communities identify.

In Morocco, a community program has been implemented for agricultural advancement, food security, and women’s empowerment that encompasses tree planting’s transformative potential.

The program applies a new technique to tree planting that shifts from plastic to biodegradable sapling sacks produced by the local women’s cooperative. This project was born from the community’s women themselves who determined that developing their sewing skills would be a rewarding and profitable way to build their cooperative.

Through this initiative, the women benefit from the profits of selling their products and gain a sense of purpose and accomplishment from having built their cooperative. In return, their products offer a more sustainable alternative to typical tree planting methods. These benefits return to the community and cooperative in the form of income for farmers, food products to be consumed or sold, and employment for local people.

Trees in a Cycle of Sustainable Development

Well-designed tree planting programs spark cycles of environmental action and empowerment where each encourages progress in the other. For example, many tree planting techniques improve soil quality, and soils are another major carbon sink. When farmers are empowered to undertake agroforestry practices that improve soil, farm ecosystems as a whole benefit and increase in carbon storage capacity.

Tree planting also creates opportunities for renewable energy. Energy input is critical at all steps of agricultural production, with renewable energy offering the most sustainable approach. For example, integrating solar panels with tree planting to power irrigation means that carbon is sequestered through trees while energy-related carbon emissions are reduced.

This cycle expands beyond the environment through cooperative building, for example, where alternative livelihood sources are built. Sustainable tree planting also enhances food and water security, which has outsized impacts on the health and well-being of a community. When people feel healthier, they are more able to go to school and work and contribute to their communities.

Ultimately, we need this kind of cyclical rather than linear action to see long-term development and avert climate catastrophes. When systems are more resilient, local people become more resilient as well. And, when people begin to see the benefits of tree planting programs, it empowers them to take their efforts even further.

While the act of tree planting alone cannot solve all of the world’s climate problems, the rhetoric that tree planting is ‘nonsense’ discourages investment into reforestation and afforestation initiatives that are increasingly critical and have proven to be successful in sparking long-term development processes.