IDENTITY CARD

-Official name: Kingdom of Morocco

-Population :33,241,259

-Capital : Rabat

-Largest city : Casablanca

--Official languages : Arabic

 

-Government: Constitutional monarchy

 

-King: Mohammed VI

 

Geography

 -Localisation : North Africa  -West Coast : Atlantic Ocean-North Coast : Strait of Gibraltar and Mediterranean Sea  -East : Algeria-North : Spain-South : Western Sahara, Mauritania -Area: 446,550 km² 

After your make-up removal of the evening, apply argan oil to your face and didn’t forgot your neck.

Care of the body:

With leaving your bath, gently mass the skin of your body. If your skin is very desiccated, do not dither to coat your body before taking your bath. Have patience approximately 30 minutes then plunge in the water!

Capillary Mask:

If your hair is dry, apply argan oil to the aggregate of your hair. Mass and let pose approximately 30 min before making a soft shampoo.

Care of the nails:

To strengthen them, soak your nails in a made up bath with share equal argan oil and of lemon. Leave your nails in this preparation during 10 minutes.

Components:

3 tablespoons ( C ) with almond puree – 3 C with honey all flowers -3 C with Argan Oil

Mix the whole in a soup plate. Soak its bread (ideally barley bread) and to taste it while drinking a green tea with mint.

Tomato salad to Berber

Components:

4 quite ripe tomatoes – 1 soft onion – 1 lemon Argan oil – 15 fresh strand of coriander – salt and pepper.

Peel tomatoes and cut them out of dice. Peel and slice thinly the onion. Mix the whole in a dish. Dress of 2 tablespoons with Argan oil, to add the juice of lemon, to salt and pepper. Snip the fresh coriander and mix. Put to refresh 15 minutes before being useful.

Souiri Couscous

Components:

The broth is composed of 2 carrots – 1 white turnip – 1 section of marrow – 1 zucchini – 1 aubergine – 4 peeled tomatoes – 1 sweet pepper – fresh coriander – 1 C with soup of strong current el hanout – 2 tablespoons with olive oil- salt – pepper and 8 strand of saffron – 100 G of cooked chick-pea.

Put the whole in the couscous dish with 2 litters of water. Bring to boiling, to reduce fire and to let cook during 20 minutes. Take 200 G of semolina couscous; moisten with 2 dipper of the broth, to let rise up. Shell the semolina and to put it to cook 10 minutes in the top of the dish. Incorporate a nut of butter and to give it to cook during 5 minutes. In the middle of a dish, make a cone with the semolina and to lay out sprinkled vegetables of the broth. Sprinkle, in spiral, a few quantity of Argan oil on the cone.

Traditionally, a piece of goat is cooked with the broth. It can be replaced by a half chicken or a lamb shoulder.

A wine containing syrah is extremely appreciated in association.

         Bon appétit !

Women in this part are very dependant of men because they take every decision (for economy, work, house, children…). Men have a monopoly, and control everything there: women’s work incomes…

And yet, these women working in agriculture account for the main labour force and are not paid for this work because, it’s considered like an extension of domestic work. Women contribute to farming and stockbreeding uppermost to men, and with rudimentary conditions.

These inequalities are very bad for the argan tree society. In fact, they create unevenness in the society because of the superiority of men discriminate women and children. The impact on the society is a bad life for women and children, a women illiteracy rate exalted, and a paucity of equipment and infrastructure (safe water, electricity, hearth…).

Moreover there is a restricted access to resources, which do not facilitate the development of the place.

To ameliorate every living day of the women, they need to access to sanitation, safe water, education, energies and resources like farmland, income…

For that, some women have created the women’s cooperatives. These women have generally a special position: divorced or widows for example. But these cooperatives point out an attitude of change of women, who look for self-sufficiency.

These cooperatives will enable the women to get organized without any dependence of men. These women with a special position could work and gain a social status dignified, and ameliorate their standard of living. These cooperatives could spread over all women, and enable women a financial autonomy and an economic power, and a restriction of their discrimination.

Indeed, with an income, the women can improve their standard of living (with safe water, electricity, a better adult literacy rate…), send their children to school, have more responsibilities, and be independent…

These cooperatives could change men’s behaviour, allow evolving traditions…

At last, these cooperatives make possible a modernisation of agriculture, and a possibility to ameliorate the argan oil marketing.

The argan culture offers to women the emancipation’s possibility, and an area of development.

The argan so assures the subsistence of some 3 million persons.

The objective is to value the main product of the argan tree, which is the oil of argan, so as to allow groupings of women to pull a better profit of their work.

In what measure did the initiative improve the socio-economic conditions and the well-being of the community?

We notice an increase of the implementation of initiatives to group together the persons working in the argan.

The object of this initiative was to share with the local communities of the expected surplus so that they realize the fact that the argan tree is economically interesting and that they involve in a natural way in the regeneration and the reforestation of the region. We thus saw the creation, with several partners, of women’s cooperative for the production and the marketing of the oil of argan.

These projects so allowed the improvement of the socioeconomic conditions of the women and the awareness by the women of their rights. They bloom and they are proud to work in cooperatives because they are now better respected. Their incomes allow them to school their children, to improve their environment, to feed better, to get dressed correctly and to look after themselves. They became more credible. Thanks to the lessons of elimination of illiteracy, the women became aware of the interest of knowledge to read and to write. The women also participated in the other activities of training: training in the formulation of a project and in search of capital for his realization and training in the savings.

The valuation of the oil of argan allowed a significant improvement of the incomes of the women of cooperatives and also those who collect the fruit of the argan tree.

Which effects on the biodiversity?

Besides this socio-economic role, the argan tree plays an irreplaceable role in the ecological balance and in the conservation of the biodiversity. It contributes to the preservation of the ground and allows to fight against the hydric and wind erosion who threaten with desertification a good part of the region.

The population of argan tree declines in term of surfaces and especially density. Within half a century, the average density of argan tree is crossed (spent) by 100 trees / ha in 30 / ha. This degradation believes from one year to the next under the influence of the increase of the population and the livestock, the appearance of the intensive farming which engenders the deforestation, the over stocking, a greater desertification and an exodus increased by the rural populations.

He becomes for that reason urgent to look for a better use of the tree for the benefit of his users so that they are more motivated to protect and to transplant the argan tree.

IDENTITY CARD

- Vernacular name: Argan tree, Argan, iron wood

- Scientific name: Argania Spinosa

-Family : Sapotaceae

- Average height : 8 – 10 metres

-Average life : 150 – 250 years

GEOGRAPHIC DISPERSION

1 – Story

The argan tree is on the earth maybe since the tertiary. At this period there was perhaps a connexion between the Moroccan seacoast and the Canary island. After this tree has been disseminating on a great part of this Morocco at quaternary. There has been a glacial period who leave this tree only on certain area like the south-west and some next to the north and the Mediterranean cost. Today the most of them are in the Souss region.

In fact, we can find it now in the southeast of Morocco specially in the Souss plain. It for this mind we can say that it’s an endemic tree.

We can ask us Why this tree grow up only in the Southern of Morocco?

TREE FEATURES

1 – Silhouette

- In general

It has a particular silhouette. It has a large and round summit, a knobbly bole, intricate and rather short most often with many interwoven part. It have thorny branch. It’s for this they called it “spinosa”.

-The Wood and the leafs

The argan tree have a really hard wood called “ iron wood ”. The leafs are green dark and tough. They are eating by camel and goat who don’t hesitate to climb at branch.

-Flowers and fruit

There are white and yellow flowers who appear in May-June. These flowers give yellow-brown fruits at maturity who is formed by a pulpy pericarp all around the hard stone.

In this stone there are tree oily almonds. The fruit is oval and measure approximately 30 mm. One tree produces 8 kg of fruits by years.

This tree have an environmental role, it can assure an ecological balance. In fact with its roots system who grow in depth it can protect soil against erosion. It enrich the soil also with the leafs, the fruits and also with the vegetation who grow under the tree.

3 – Climate

The argan tree is really resistant to high temperature. In fact he is perfectly adapted at the southeast Moroccan aridity and can support until 50°C. It doesn’t need a lot of water and a lot of soil. But it can support a low pluviometry and can grow up in cliff.

4 – To the future

There are people who work on this tree to discover the specificity. In fact, there are scientist like Mrs Zoubida Charrouf who work on this tree to have scientific knowledge on the oil and other argan products.

There is also agency like IDRC (International Development Research Centre) who had worked for the development of argan oil treatment cooperative managed by woman.

UTILIZATION

This tree is use to different products. We can quote products like Oil extract of the almond and use in cosmetic, in pharmaceutical or in feeding or the (tourteau) for the cattle fattening. This oil has a great food value that have a great place in population economy. We use also the wood like combustible and to joinery. The leafs and the fruit are use for the fodder.

The firewood and the alimentary oil are use today by some 3 million of rural people. They play a part social and economic in the countryside population who allow limiting the rural exodus.

BE CAREFUL

Unfortunately the argon tree is in danger in the plain of Souses. The trees are cut down. It’s really shame that this heritage so be it destroy when you know that you can find it only in Morocco.

So what can we to do? What the government can to do?

Food-processing:

It’s needed 100 kg of fruits for make 1,5 litter of oil, that is the fact that the fruit doesn’t used in wholeness. In fact: 100 kg of ripe fruits give 60 kg of dry fruits including 30 kg of dry pulp and 30 kg of core. These 30 kg of core give approximately 27 kg of hull and 3 kg of almond, and 2 kg of almond give 1 litter of oil.

Normally it’s realised manually by women in 6 phases. The phases of extraction are:

- removing manually the pulp

- crushing of nuts

- roasting with soft fire in ground dish

- squashing

- mixing the paste

- pressing of the paste

Details of the most important stages of this process:

The fruits of the Argan, left small green pears, are collected in July-August. They will be then dried to facilitate pulping (separation of pulp and the core) Come then crushing, long and delicate phase during which the women with blow of rollers disencumber the core of its bark while taking care not to exhaust the almond. Thus, she obtains a cream that will mix with tepid water and will press with its hands. One can then extract the oil with the soft perfume from hazel nut. It is necessary to count in a whole ten working to manufacture one litter of this oil.

Since many years the demand on oil doesn’t stop to increase. This phenomenon involved the industrialization of many manufactures. However, a lot of organizations crusade for the manufacture remains the ticket of women.

Food interest:

In the Moroccan traditional medicine, the use of this oil is very dispersed. The daily consumption of 2 cL of oil can ensure the daily contributions in unsaturated fatty acid. It is rich in unsaturated fatty acid (acid oleic and linoleic), which aren’t digested by the organism. She favours the regulation of the cholesterol. His consumption prevents diseases cardiovascular by increasing the rate of check cholesterol. Its taste of hazelnut in fact one of the oil the most looked for flavour salads, couscous and other recipe.

Cosmetic interest:

The Moroccan women use this oil for a long time. Indeed, this oil is very rich in vitamins and unsaturated fatty acid. In Morocco it’s used for a lot of thinks to birth at the adulthood. One has noticed for several years that the Western countries are increasingly petitioning of this oil. It’s that why the trade of products containing Argan Oil is very widespread. This passion for these products cosmetic, explain by the fact that we accord to the Argan Oil many virtues of which most known are:

- relax and protect the skin against the aggression

- nourish the hair

- treatment against the acne

- massage against rheumatism

- wood is used as fuel

- leaf and fruit are used as forage

- oil squeezed out almond is used in food or cosmetic

- contribute to the preservation of the ground by roots.

Since many centuries, Moroccan women produced the Argan Oil, for food or cosmetic care. This oil is squeezed of almond. Today, there are two sorts of oil, the food oil and the cosmetic oil, and it’s the main product of the Argan Tree. This activity enables the subsistence of 3 million people, mainly women.

Use of the tree:

The leaf:

Often, we can see many goats on this tree. The reason of this is that the leaves are delicious forage for many animals (goat, camel …) They are very rich in anti fungus and antibacterial. That is why they are used to look after animals.

The wood:

The Argan Tree is a very good fuel. His wood is very solid and it serves for creating many tools and skeletons. The use of the wood is at the origin of the disappearance of big areas.

The pulp:

Mainly used as food for goats, she could be a product with strong added value. She includes a lot of alcohol which by undergoing chemical alterations give products very research in the industry.

The crab:

It’s the residue of the extraction of the oil and we use it in the fattening of the cattle. The crab contains a lot of saponine which have a big variety of biologic activities (anti-inflammatory, diuretic, analgesic) The faculty of medicine and pharmacy of Rabat make researches to value the use of this product in pharmacy or in the industry

The fruits:

The fruit is the biggest wealth of the Argan. Fruits are very appreciated by animals, but also by population who exploits it for the oil in many virtues. The almond contains 50% of edible oil. The oil extraction is realized by the women in a craft way. The yield is very weak (30 %).

Created by Laurent Thieblemont in April 2005

WELCOME,

The Argan tree has been exploited since many centuries in SOUSS, a Moroccan area. Today there is a group of organisation like UNESCO and the Moroccan government who want to develop this growth. However it’s not only an economic development, but it’s equally a social development. In fact it’s a source of work for women, contributing for emancipation. It’s for these aspects that we decided to make this blog.  In fact we are four students (Aymeric, Audrey, Carole and Claire) at ISTOM. It’s an INGINEERING school in INTERNATIONAL AGRONOMICS and DEVELOPMENT. Furthermore, this subject is really good for our education.

In this blog, you will be able to find several articles concerning the Argan Tree, its use and also its economic and social role. You will also find there some beauty councils and other receipts, like some videos presenting the oil extraction and the area where this tree grows.