My Nonprofit Reviews

Conserving Traditional Crop Diversity and Wild Medicinal Plants in Morocco

Abderrahim Ouarghidi, Ph.D.
Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer
High Atlas Foundation, Marrakech

The Moroccan saying--“New things have a charm and old ones should be preserved”—has wide applicability in current Moroccan agricultural practices and attitudes towards traditional and local crop varieties. This revealing expression is part of the Moroccan identity and way of life. Moroccan people place high value on tradition, while at the same time they are committed to a modernity that is built upon existing cultural traditions that give distinction.

For instance, in Morocco there is widespread preference for local or “beldi” foods, such as “a’slhur” (pure unfiltered honey), “zit ud” (olive oil), and “shriha skouria” (a local fig variety) that have been always appreciated and valued delicacies. Nearly all Moroccan communities consider “beldi” food items as healthy, tasty, and nutritious.

Despite this, decision-makers at high levels of government agencies responsible for agricultural policy and education in Morocco tend to focus heavily on commercialization, profit, and production for global markets. While this approach has positioned Morocco as an important producer of fruit and vegetables for European and global markets—in the effort to ensure that the Moroccan agricultural sector is thriving, they have avertedly undermined local knowledge and practices of small-scale farmers, leading to the loss of agrobiodiversity and traditional crop varieties.

Although traditional crop varieties are highlighted in Morocco’s “Green” strategic plan for agriculture, to date limited attention has been given to local agricultural practices and local crop varieties and species, which represent an important genetic resource for small farmers and the future of these crops globally. The genetic diversity preserved in-situ in traditional crop varieties can provide the raw materials needed to ensure continuing supplies of these crops in the face of water scarcity and rapid climate and environmental change.

Promoting local seed diversity enhances the diversity of crops on farms thereby providing resilience to environmental and market shocks, while at the same time maintaining local practices and values. Growing traditional varieties in addition to those for export, would allow farmers to also target local markets and support healthy aspects of traditional Moroccan diets and cuisine.

To help return traditional crop varieties to farms in Morocco, the High Atlas Foundation(HAF) has been working with the Farmer-to-Farmer program (funded by USAID and administered by Land O’ Lakes) to assess the current status of local agrobiodiversity and create a seed bank to preserve local crops, wild relatives, and wild medicinal plants. The hope is that such documentation and the seed bank will both demonstrate the inherent value of traditional crop varieties and crop wild relatives and ensure that farmers who which to reintroduce such varieties to their farms have access to planting material. This work support HAF’s mission in Morocco to achieve a sustainable agricultural development and promote sustainable local varieties and practices for food security and conservation.

The rapid assessment we performed the fall and winter of 2017-18 suggests a tremendous shift has occurred, resulting in the loss of local crops varieties and genotypes and loss of traditional agricultural practices. We found widespread replacement of diverse traditional varieties with a very few high-yielding introduced varieties and species such as apple, almond, and plums. These introduced varieties are considered “modern”, genetically enhanced, and are heavily promoted by governmental programs encouraging intensive agriculture. Agricultural priorities for export markets promoted through different programs are thereby contributing to genetic erosion and in some cases lead to unsustainable agriculture.

There needs to be greater attention to the inequality in access to the benefits from these agricultural transitions, especially for small scales farmers in terms of access to agricultural inputs and vulnerability to market and environmental shocks. During our field work, some farmers raised concerns of the cost of the treatment of the infected modern varieties of apples and the amount of labor needed to grow them. According to farmers, varieties bred from traditional “beldi” varieties require less intervention and cost very little.

We are also working to collect seeds from wild plants with economic value. In parts of rural Morocco some households gain a substantial portion of their income through the sale of medicinal plants collected from the wild. Collectors of medicinal plants and stakeholders stated that the populations of some medicinal plants are decreasing such as pellitory, wild sage, and thym, and are keen to discuss the possibility of domesticating them.

In addition to creating a Seed Bank system to preserve crops varieties and threatened wild endemic species, it is important to ensure the application of a creative, inclusive and diverse approaches to improve agriculture and livelihoods. Local communities must be valued for the real value they add to agrobiodiversity and food systems. In this context, HAF is playing an important role working with local farmers ensuring the use of local crops varieties and species that require less pesticides and insecticides and use water efficiently.

Dr. Abderrahim Ouarghidi – a High Atlas Foundation Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer – is an Assistant Research Professor at the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Pennsylvania State University.