Plant Organic Fruit Trees with African Farmers

On Wednesday the 14^th of May, members of the High Atlas Foundation’s team visited Tassa Ouirgane to conduct a women’s empowerment meeting and pay a visit to the foundation’s nursery there. The team consisted of Amina El Hajjami, HAF’s Director of Projects, and Hassan Ait Ouatouch, HAF’s Project Assistant, as well as me. The field visit started in the morning by meeting first with some local farmers in the village next to the nursery. The plants there include pomegranate, olive, and walnut, and have grown rapidly—particularly the pomegranate plants. Amina supervised the work in the nursery and the technical aspects of irrigation, and the United Nations Development Program is financing the multi-faceted program. We engaged with the farmers who were present in conversation about the nursery and farming in the village in addition to both its challenges and promising factors.

We later met with the girls and women of Tassa Ouirgane’s new Cooperative for Medicinal Plants. Amina discussed with this group of women the name they chose for the cooperative as well as their previous conversations regarding the cooperative’s activities. In addition, the members addressed the type of plants they brought, their uses, and names in Tamazight, including “Tikida” and “Timija.” Most importantly, Amina opened a discussion about the legal and administrative procedures to finish establishing the cooperative. Notably, most of the women need to first organize prerequisite documents of their own, such as their national ID, in order to have the right to collect the cooperative’s legal documents. Further, Amina discussed the organizational side of the cooperative: abiding by the internal law, embodying its values, assistance, democratically electing the office members of the cooperative, having a fixed price for their products, and selling profitable products were among the emphasized topics for which members had to agree upon.

Both developmental projects of the nursery and the newly established women’s cooperative have an effective impact on the beneficiary groups in Tassa Ouirgane. The nursery, for which the village’s local association is responsible, provides various trees for planting each year. The women’s Cooperative of Medicinal Plans will also have a sustainable outcome, not only for its members but also their families and school children whom they will be capable of supporting financially. The two aforementioned projects can in fact lead to achieving multiple developmental goals at the same time.

On Thursday, the 28^th of March, the team of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) visited with HAF Board Member Martine Roberts the nurseries of Akrich, Imegdal, and Tadmamt. Our first stop was the Akrich nursery where HAF planted over 30,000 almond and fig seeds.

All seeds and cuttings in the nursery are covered with black plastic to increase soil heat and moisture, which enables them to grow faster. Furthermore, all seeds and cuttings are watered regularly using drip irrigation, which provides exactly the right amount of water for every sapling and thereby conserves the precious water resource.

The wonderful aspect about this nursery is its cultural value. While being a nursery, which provides much needed tree saplings to communities all over Morocco, the place is also a Jewish cemetery, where the saint Raphael Ha Cohen is buried. Many pilgrims visit regularly to pray for good health for themselves and their loved ones at the tomb of the Saint, who was known for his healing powers.

After our visit to the nursery and cemetery, we enjoyed a homemade breakfast and then set out for the next nursery in Imegdal. On our way to Imegdal we admired the beautiful countryside along the Ouirgane Dam.

At the Imgdal nursery, HAF planted over 30,000 walnut and 6000 almond seeds as well as thousands of medicinal plants (sage, pelargonium, rosemary, and Cyprus). In addition to walnut, almond, and medicinal plants, the Imgdal nursery is also specialized in the germination and plantation of argan seeds. Hassan, the nursery caretaker, showed us how to prepare the argan seeds for germination in a greenhouse, which is necessary to protect the seeds from harsh weather conditions and to provide the necessary heat.

We also talked to Hassan about the irrigation system. He showed us the water storage on top of a hill, which is connected through pipes to the nursery. It was very clear how committed he is to the nursery and how much care he gives, much like a father for his kids. He proudly explained to us that some plants in the Caddi Ayad University are named after him.

Afterwards we headed to the last nursery of Tadmamt, which is one of the biggest HAF nurseries and currently keeps over 1500,000 seeds of almonds, walnut, and cherry.

After spending the whole day exploring these three beautiful nurseries, we gained good insight into the techniques used in the nursery to ensure successful germination and growth and we experienced the dedication and care that is given to each individual seed and cutting. Our field visit finished with a feeling of sincere appreciation of HAF’s work, which creates life and hope with every single sapling given to a community member.