Essaouira Province Celebrates Milestones in Argan Tree Cultivation

Rabat – The Provincial Committee for the Development of the Argan Sector in the Moroccan city of Essaouira organized its 10th meeting on Wednesday to review the achievements in the Argan sector, discuss future development prospects, and outline a vision for the coming years.

The meeting, which was chaired by Governor of Essaouira’s province Adil El Maliki, and brought together various stakeholders and participants, including Latifa Yaakoubi, the director-general of the National Agency for the Development of Oases and the Argan Tree (ANDZOA).

During his opening remarks, El Maliki highlighted the accomplishments and efforts made in recent years towards the development of the argan sector within the province. He expressed optimism regarding the positive impact of these action plans in the years to come.

While emphasizing the promising prospects of the industry as a significant regional asset, he stressed the importance of rationalizing water consumption in agriculture, especially given Morocco’s current water crisis.

Meanwhile, Latifa Yaakoubi noted that the meeting provided an opportunity to present the current state of the argan sector in the province, as well as discuss the challenges faced in production.

She commended the serious discussions held during the session and highlighted the proposal for a roadmap to further develop the sector, create employment opportunities, and generate added value to the province.

The ultimate goal is the swift implementation of formulated programs for sustainable development, she stressed.

Abdelaziz Bousraref, the Regional Director of Agriculture in Marrakech-Safi, highlighted the importance of the progress achieved in the argan sector. He noted that argan trees were successfully planted on 3,000 hectares of land in Essaouira province.

This represents a substantial contribution towards the country’s overall target of planting argan trees on 10,000 hectares nationwide.

Bousraref highlighted other efforts by stakeholders to support the argan sector, including the provision of necessary equipment to enhance production and improve product quality. He also underlined a fresh and inclusive perspective that ANDZOA established to restructure the argan sector.

The meeting featured comprehensive presentations on the achievements in Essaouira’s argan sector. They discussed various topics, including specific projects for planting argan trees, as well as their plans for improving the argan sector in the coming years.