Berber women gather fruits in an argan grove. Once dried, the kernels are pressed for oil and the husk used to feed livestock. Argan oil has been a component of Berber folk medicine for centuries, used in the treatment of skin conditions, rheumatism and heart disease, but in the past decade or so the cosmetic and food industries have woken up to its potential as an anti-ageing wonder treatment and super food. Financial Times Photo: Philipp Patrick Ammon
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* It has been used as a medicine by Berbers for centuries; now cosmetic & food industries are showing an interest *
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The Financial Times, by Matthew Wilson (March 14, 2014) — To take the road from Marrakech to Essaouira is to follow a horticultural timeline for Morocco. Leaving the city, with its citrus groves and date-palm plantations, some of which were first planted in the Almohad dynasty, the N8 highway streams west through sparsely vegetated flatlands. The high light levels and warm temperatures here have led to a growing industry supplying the insatiable demand of the international market for out-of-season crops. Soon enough the landscape is littered with nurseries, most of them sprouting rows of polytunnels. Under the protection of these plastic-covered hoops grow salad crops, vegetables and tomatoes. It is an industry that has flourished since the early 1970s, from just 16 hectares of protected crops in 1975 to 16,500 hectares in 2006, much of it under the unnatural milky shrouds of thermal polyethylene.
Dana Elemara used her savings to set up Arganic in 2012. Family-owned farm that supplies her employs 600 Berber women. The Financial Times
A little under halfway into the journey the N8 drops south towards Agadir and the route to Essaouira continues on the slower, dustier route régionale 207. Somewhere between Ounagha and the Atlantic coast, trees begin to appear; solitary sentinels, then small groves giving way to more substantial plantings. These are argan trees (Argania spinosa); distinctively squat with a wide spreading canopy of small, leathery leaves interspersed with fearsome looking spines. Argania spinosa is an ancient species; the lineage goes back to the Tertiary era, between 65m and 1.8m years ago. Endemic to the southwest of Morocco and the Tindouf region of Algeria, they thrive – perhaps a more accurate description is tenaciously survive – in calcareous soils in these semi-deserts. Despite the climatic challenges of their home range, argan trees manage to live for as much as 250 years.
Their adaptations enable them to colonize the desert fringes where few other trees can grow, making them a vitally important bastion against desertification. They have long, questing root systems that go deep into the thin soil in search of the water table. The depth of the root system means the trees are firmly anchored to the ground and resistant to strong winds, which in turn protects the soil from erosion. Small leaves and tough stems help to reduce water loss caused by excessive transpiration. The argan trees around Essaouira are frequently adorned with goats, which climb up into the tops of the trees and nimbly nibble the fruit from between the armoured branches. It makes for one of the most memorable rural scenes to be found anywhere, but historically the goats formed part of the production process of what the local Berber people consider to be arboricultural gold; argan oil.
Goats in the branches of an argan tree. Inside the yellowy-green fleshy drupe is a kernel with a hard shell, and inside this is the “gold”; small seeds, between one and three per kernel, containing 60 per cent oil. Photo: Getty
[Continue Reading at The Financial Times…]
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