Multicultural Partners Planting Trees in Africa

MAY 2012

Last week an agreement was signed between HAF and the (Moroccan) Jewish Community of Marrakech*, and a pilot project is now in the planning stages. [*In Morocco, a “Jewish Community” is a legal entity, much like a Commune, and it has a president.] 

The project premise is: 

Sprinkled throughout Morocco, Jewish sacred shrines occupy land owned by the local Jewish Communities, and these are often in rural areas. The Jewish Community will lend HAF some arable land adjoining a particular religious shrine for 5 years so that HAF can build a community tree nursery there, training representatives of the neighboring villages in fruit tree arboriculture as they build and maintain the nursery over the 5-year period. At the end of the 2nd and 5th years, young trees will be distributed to the poorer families in the local villages, and the newly-trained cultivators will pass along their knowledge to the other villagers. 

Morocco has had a rich religious history. In the 8th century AD when the Arabs brought Islam to present-day Morocco, Jewish people had already inhabited Morocco since 70 CE, co-existing with the Berber peoples, sharing language and culture. This combined Moroccan Muslim and Jewish community project will be another reminder of this rich shared history and mutual respect.

MARCH 2012

This combined Morocccan Jewish and Muslim Community project is expected to be the first HAF project to take place in the Province of Essaouira, which is a different region, with different soil, less water, a different population, and different challenges in addressing poverty issues. Therefore, we need to identify different solutions.

Because the soil, climate, terrain, and growing conditions are completely different, studies have been underway to identify the trees to plant, suppliers of saplings and to further clarify the technical aspects of the project, even as new partnerships are being developed with local authorities and communities.  

At the same time, because this is to be a pilot project, a lot of careful planning is being put into essentially creating a large, kingdom-wide project, with this as only the first step.

Partnership is always important to the success of development projects, and so we are at the stage of bringing together groups, building trust, and preparing the way for the next steps to come.

Stay tuned ...