MOROCCO: Argan oil gains popularity internationally due to its medicinal and cosmetic properties

Record ID: 343878

  • Title: MOROCCO: Argan oil gains popularity internationally due to its medicinal and cosmetic properties
  • Date: 3rd October 2008
  • Summary: (AD-1) ESSAOUIRA, MOROCCO (RECENT) (REUTERS) ARGAN NUTS BEING POURED INTO A MACHINE TO EXTRACT THE OIL WOMAN POURING ARGAN NUTS INTO THE OIL EXTRACTION MACHINE OIL COMING OUT OF MACHINE ABDERRAHIM EZZAHER THE OWNER OF THE ARGAN OIL PRODUCTION FACTORY TALKING TO THE WOMAN CLOSE-UP OF THE WOMAN TALKING TO ABDERRAHIM EZZAHER (SOUNDBITE) (French) ABDERRAHIM EZZAHER, OWNE
  • Embargoed: 18th October 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Morocco
  • Country: Morocco
  • Topics: Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVACBLEU4MD8SBAK4UAR9JH3LYS5
  • Story Text: The Argan tree, its nut and the precious oil that is finally extracted, is known for its medicinal, cosmetic and nutritious qualities.
    Argan oil is one of the rarest oils in the world due the small and very specific growing area, which includes the forests growing in the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountains in the south-west of Morocco.
    Within a 160 kilometre radius of the Souss valley, about 21 million trees produce the world's supply of argan nuts and oil, whose extraction is part of Berber heritage.
    Both the men and women of the hundreds of local villages appreciate the unique and versatile tree.
    The men graze their small herds of goats on the common land where the majority of the trees grow. They have the right to free pasture for their animals and when the summer is especially hot and all other vegetation has dried up, the goats climb into the branches to eat the argan nut and remaining leaves.
    From a distance they look like curious, dark fruits dangling from the short stubby tree with its twisted and gnarled trunk. And just as the goats cling to the branches of the tree so these thorny shrub-like trees cling tenaciously to the poor soil on the slopes of rocky hills. Yet curiously all attempts to propagate saplings in laboratories from cuttings and seeds have failed.

    "Everybody here in Morocco says it is a mysterious tree. There have been a lot of experts, scientists and farmers who have tried to plant this tree but sadly without success," Khadija Idbakrim, leader of the women's co-operative, says.
    The Berbers know that the tree is central to their survival and they have the skills to live off the tree, yet protect it for future generations.
    Abderrahim Ezzaher, owner of an argan oil factory in Essaouira, said that employing Berber women to gather the nuts helps financially support the local community.

    "There is a whole system of employment behind this factory. All the women in the countryside who gather the nuts or take care of the trees.
    This means that the money is going back into the rural communities," says Ezzaher.
    However now there is concern that increasing interest by the outside world might threaten the very survival of the argan tree.
    The threat stems from attempts to mass-produce its oil. The women traditionally hand press the inner kernel or seeds between two huge stones to produce a heavy, amber coloured oil. It's a slow and painstaking process with 100 kg of seeds yielding just one kilogram of the oil.
    Using the precious oil is second nature to the Berber women as a substitute for expensive olive oil and other fats as it is excellent for salads and cooking tagine. The oil is also used as lamp fuel and in home-made cosmetics and soap.
    In the past there was no competition for the oil as it was widely viewed as poor peasants fare.
    Now big business interests have realised they have a new "miracle" ingredient for their anti-age creams. And the food industry is keen to cash in on an up-market rival to white truffle oil.

    "Argan oil is getting better known in Europe. Some celebrity chefs are using it in their kitchens. Tourists who come here have got to know the oil and they want to be able to buy it in their own European countries,"
    says German Cornelia Hendry, co-owner of the Villa Maroc in Essaouira.
    The Berbers are increasingly alarmed by this European invasion of their way of life.
    The Moroccan government has heeded the danger of the over cultivation of the forests and plans to pass legislation to protect this vital part of local culture.

    "The Moroccan government is aware of the problem and in partnership with outside agencies, particularly the European Union, we are striving to protect this unique forest," says Governor of Essaouira, Abdesalem Bikrate.
    And while the Berbers of the area have always claimed that argan oil has various medicinal properties, the local regional government of al-Haouz has ordered scientific studies.
    These verify what the Berbers have always known, that argan oil is good for you. If the trees were to disappear then the whole way of life of the region would be lost.
    It is not just the fruit that sustains the Berbers and their animals.
    The outer shell of the hard fruit is used to make fires and the sticky paste that remains once the kernel is crushed is fed to cows and camels.
    And so a whole way of life hangs in the balance.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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