Demands Rise for Moroccan Argan Oil

Let's avoid the "hard" news for a little longer.
Here is a piece from the Global News Blog of the Christian Science Monitor on Argan Oil and the increase in demand it is witnessing.
______________________________

Morocco: Demands rise on argan tree

By Lindsey Arkley | Contributor 08.17.09
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.

ESSAOUIRA, MOROCCO – For centuries, the Berber people of south-west Morocco have used oil from a tree endemic to the region as a staple food and in traditional medicines.

In recent years, there’s been increasing demand for oil from the argan tree in Western countries, where it’s used by gourmet chefs, and by cosmetic companies which claim it has antiaging and restorative properties. Now the Moroccan government is hoping to triple production of argan oil by 2020, from the current level of around 100 tons a year.

It’s hoped that poor rural women in particular would benefit from expansion of the argan oil industry in an arid region with few industries and employment prospects. The trouble is, the slow-growing argan tree is already listed as an endangered species, presenting scientists with a huge challenge to avert over-exploitation.

Argan oil comes from the two to three kernels found inside the pit of the oval-shaped green fruit of the tree. Traditionally, it is women who crack the pit, lightly roast the kernels, then pound and knead the resulting paste to extract the oil.

Using traditional methods, 2 pints of oil requires about 220 lbs. of fruit, and up to about 20 hours of work in one of about 25 women’s cooperatives set up in the region since 1996. Some of the co-ops have introduced a degree of mechanization that reduces the amount of manual labor required.

Others, however, such as the Marjana Cooperative near the Atlantic coastal city of Essaouira, prefer to maintain traditional methods to maximize employment. As the Marjana Co-op’s production rose from 1.5 tons in 2006 to 3.4 tons last year, the number of women employed full time almost doubled to nearly 50 workers.

For many women, it is their first paid job, and they can earn up to about $280 a month – a good sum in a region where many people live below the poverty line.

The Marjana Co-op, which was set up by a parents’ organization so that the women could work while their children are at school, also provides basic literacy and numeracy classes between shifts to those who need it.

“It is important that those of us who have had a good education help the other women in this way,” says sales assistant Ghizlane Zakkar, who studied for four years for a law degree, but can’t find work as a lawyer. Raising literacy levels is also seen as an important part of spreading the message among the Berber women about preserving argan trees for future generations, Ms. Zakkar says.

In 1998, UNESCO declared almost 10,000 square miles of southwest Morocco, including the whole argan-growing region, to be a special “biosphere reserve.”

Besides the argan tree’s various human uses, UNESCO noted, it also acted as a buffer against northern expansion of the Sahara Desert – a role that remains just as critical today.

Cactus Commerce Boosts Morocco

Here is an article from the BBC's Middle East News Page about the cactus plant in Morocco, and the its many versatile uses. Apparently the hindiya vendors on the streets of Morocco who sell the fruit for half a dirham don't know how much money is to be had using the plant for cosmetic and medicinal purposes. Look out argan oil, now you've got some competition.

_______________________________


Cactus commerce boosts Morocco


By Sylvia Smith
BBC News, Sbouya, Morocco

It is just after dawn in the hills above the Moroccan hamlet of Sbouya and a group of women are walking through the thousands of cactus plants dotted about on the hillside, picking ripe fruits whenever they spot the tell-tale red hue.

But these woman are not simply scraping a living out of the soil.

The cactus, previously eaten as a fruit or used for animal feed, is creating a minor economic miracle in the region thanks to new health and cosmetic products being extracted from the ubiquitous plant.

This prickly pocket of the semi-arid south of the country around the town of Sidi Ifni is known as Morocco's cactus capital.

It is blessed with the right climate for the 45,000 hectares (111,000 acres) of land that is being used to produce prodigious numbers of succulent Barbary figs.

Every local family has its own plot and, with backing from the Ministry of Agriculture, the scheme to transform small scale production into a significant industry industry is under way.

Some 12m dirhams ($1.5m) have been pledged to build a state-of-the-art factory that will help local farmers process the ripe fruits.

The move is expected to help workers keep pace with the requirements of the French cosmetics industry which is using the cactus in increasing numbers of products.

Lucrative

Izana Marzouqi, a 55-year-old member of the Aknari cooperative, says people from the region grew up with the cactus and did not realise its true benefit.

"Demand for cactus products has grown and that it is because the plant is said to help with high blood pressure and cancer. The co-operative I belong to earns a lot of money selling oil from the seeds to make anti-ageing face cream."


Each member of the Aknari cooperative can pick between 30 and 50 pallets of the fruits in a morning during the season which lasts from July to December.

Many of them also work in the factory a short distance away where the fruit is peeled and then the pulp is separated and used to make jam.

The seeds which are ground to produce an oil are the most lucrative part of the plant.

The oil is used in more than 40 cosmetic products, and sells at a very high price as a pure skin oil.

It takes approximately a tonne of the tiny seeds to make a litre of oil.

Parts of the stem are ground into a powder, the flowers flavour vinegar and the pulp of the fruit has been found to lower cholesterol. Nowadays very little is left over for animal feed.

Cactus brand

Keltoum Hammadi, who runs the Aknari co-operative, says that some of the processes are secret.

"In the cosmetics industry rivals never let the competition know their sources.

map

"All I can say is that we are working with a number of European laboratories to develop the use of the cactus for slimming."

Keltoum Achahour, manager of Saharacactus in the Sidi Ifni area, explains that her company is collaborating on other new products.

"We are a sort of umbrella for a number of women's cooperatives," she explains.

"By forming a group and incorporating we can protect the cactus, create a brand and ensure we get a fair share of the vast sums of money that the international cosmetics industry spends on research and development."

Exact figures are hard to come by, with each cooperative having its own speciality.

Their activities range from making soap to pickling leaves cut into strips, from packing top quality fresh fruits for use within Morocco, to selling on the road side from buckets to lorries that roll up in town early in the morning.

Consequently the exact size of the industry remains difficult to measure.

Boost for women

At present only 20% of the fruits grown for commercial use is processed in the region.

The vast majority is still bought in bulk by outsiders who cream off the highest profit.

They can buy a box for between 20 and 30 dirhams and sell it on for 100 dirhams.
Women preparing barbery figs
The figs are being used to produce a wide range of products

But with greater financial involvement from the government, it is expected that within two years more than 75% of the production will be processed by the townspeople of Ait Baamram.

The industry is expected to grow by more 20% next year alone.

More than half of the land suitable for cactus production has yet to be involved in any commercial activity and with 9,000 plants per hectare (or acre) there is still a lot of room for expansion.

It is also an industry that has won women a lot of freedom.

Sayka Hafida, a member of the Aknari cooperative, says that her life has been transformed by this organic, naturally occurring plant.

"We still use the cactus leftovers for animal feed and we eat the fruit when it is fresh, and dry it for times when the plants don't produce.

"But I could never have imagined that I could get such a good income from it. You don't have to be educated to work in the factories.

"Our children are feeling the benefits. There is much more money around and it is women who are earning it.