The High Atlas Foundation Plants 33,000 Fruit Trees in Rural Morocco

During the month of February the High Atlas Foundation and its partners planted 33,000 fruit trees (cherry, apple, peach, and quince) with villages in the Imenane and Azzadene Valleys in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains in the Province of Marrakech. Approximately 3,000 people from twenty villages will benefit from this project. This project is a partnership among the High Atlas Foundation, the Global Diversity Foundation, the Association des Amis du CHU, the Province d' Al Haouz, the Marrakech Department of Waters and Forests, the Department of Agriculture for the High Atlas, the Marrakech21 Foundation, Dar Tassa, Kasbah Tamadot, and Kasbah Toubkal. Participants identified the types of trees they wished to receive and this partnership funded the purchase and distribution of them, as well as provided technical training in fruit tree agriculture.
As a recipient, from the village of Brahim Disaine Arg Imenane Valley, said: "This trees help our families, because we can eventually harvest fruits and sell them at the souk. We can use the money from the sale of fruit to feed our families, and buy warm clothes and books for our children to go to school. Our main source of income from the fruit trees - it is our way of life."
This ongoing partnership provides 17000 fruit trees in the past year and 3400 in 2006 to villages in the valleys, allowing the planting of 53400 fruit trees for the past three years. In addition, this partnership supports other socio-economic activities in the region, including projects in the areas of health, education and development of women.
High Atlas Foundation is a non-profit organization that works to establish development projects in rural communities in Morocco that local people design and management, and that, in partnership with government and non-government agencies. It was founded by former Peace Corps Volunteers, as a way to use their experience and expertise for the continued benefit of the Moroccan people. Since 2003, the organization has approximately 150000 planted fruit trees, and supports projects in the areas of drinking water, irrigation, women's cooperatives and the development of youth.