From roots to resilience: Empowering Morocco’s argan landscapes through innovation and community stewardship

09/05/2025

In the semi-arid lands of southwestern Morocco, the argan tree (Argania spinosa) has long provided nourishment, income, and cultural identity to rural communities. Known worldwide for its highly prized oil, the argan tree is essential to the region’s fragile ecosystem and a bulwark against desertification. However, the growing impacts of climate change, soil degradation, and water scarcity now threaten this iconic species.

To address these challenges, the multi-country SALAM-MED project, focusing on sustainable land and water management in the Mediterranean and funded by the European Union/Prima Foundation, has established a Living Lab in Morocco’s Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve in the Essaouira region. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a dissemination partner for the project outcomes and is assisting in scaling out the tested practices aimed to restore degraded land and enhance socio-ecosystem resilience in Mediterranean drylands.

This area, recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), serves as a unique testing ground for innovative, sustainable land and water management strategies tailored to Mediterranean drylands. The project is also in line with the Morocco’s national reforestation strategy to plant 50 000 hectares of argan

A living lab for co-creation and resilience

At the heart of the Moroccan Living Lab is a participatory approach that brings together farmers, researchers, cooperatives, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and local authorities. Rather than applying top-down solutions, the Living Lab model fosters co-creation: innovations are tested, adapted, and refined in close collaboration with the people who live and work in the landscape.

The Living Lab’s overarching aim is to enhance climate resilience in the argan ecosystem while supporting socio-economic development. This dual objective is especially important in regions like the Mediterranean and the Near East and North Africa (NENA) where environmental and economic vulnerabilities are deeply intertwined. The Living Lab serves as a bridge between local action and regional ambition. Its work contributes to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Introducing Subsurface Water Retention Technology (SWRT) and grazing management strategies

One of the most promising technologies piloted in the Moroccan Living Lab is Subsurface Water Retention Technology (SWRT). Originally developed for arid and semi-arid farming systems, SWRT involves placing impermeable, basin-shaped membranes beneath the soil surface. These biodegradable, low-cost barriers reduce deep percolation, effectively trapping water in the root zone where plants can access it.

In areas with erratic rainfall and scarce irrigation, SWRT can significantly enhance water-use efficiency. Preliminary trials conducted with the National Agency for the Development of Oasis Zones and Argan (ANDZOA) showed positive impacts on water-use efficiency, soil fertility, and argan plants’ health.

One-year-old seedlings were planted with and without biodegradable plastic, beneficial fungi (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi), and 5 percent green waste compost. Twelve months after transplanting, SWRT improved soil moisture at various depths by up to 486 percent and increased seedling survival rates by up to 13 percent. Combined treatments also led to notable gains in plant height, stem diameter, biomass, and leaf chlorophyll content. These results highlight the potential of SWRT and complementary practices to enhance argan seedling performance and soil health, supporting Morocco’s broader efforts in argan reforestation and dryland restoration.

In Essaouira, SALAM-MED examined how different grazing intensities affect argan trees across three zones: strictly protected, moderately grazed (Agdal system), and heavily grazed. Trees in protected areas showed the highest physiological and biochemical indicators, followed by those in the Agdal system, with the lowest in heavily grazed zones. While full protection gave the best results, the Agdal system offers a valuable compromise, supporting pastoral practices and herder livelihoods while maintaining the ecological sustainability of the argan forest.

Empowering local communities and youth

The Moroccan Living Lab places a strong emphasis on social inclusion, especially the empowerment of women and youth. In many argan-producing regions, women are the primary custodians of traditional ecological knowledge and play a central role in argan harvesting and processing. By providing three training sessions in agroecological practices and water-saving techniques, the project strengthens their capacity to act as stewards of the land.

Workshops, field demonstrations, and peer-to-peer learning sessions have also fostered intergenerational knowledge exchange, helping to reconnect younger generations with sustainable land-use practices that are both rooted in tradition and open to innovation.

Participants report increased confidence in managing their land, adopting new technologies, and advocating for their communities. Reinforcing this sentiment, a local woman involved in the cooperative stated “I believe that the grazing management and the technologies applied to promote the argan reforestation will improve the production of this essence, which will positively impact our situation in the argan cooperative and the livelihood of our community”. This bottom-up empowerment aligns with Morocco’s national strategies for rural development and the empowerment of women in agriculture.

Strengthening the argan value chain, scaling success and sharing knowledge

Improving the resilience of the argan ecosystem also means making the entire value chain more sustainable. Within the framework of the SALAM-MED project, applied technologies will promote argan yields and thereby diversify argan-based products, particularly cosmetic argan oil, which continues to see growing demand worldwide.

The innovations being tested in Morocco have the potential to be replicated across the Mediterranean region and beyond. By carefully documenting outcomes, sharing lessons learned, and engaging with policymakers, the SALAM-MED partners aim to influence broader strategies for sustainable land management in drylands.

The efforts of the Moroccan Living Lab offer an inspiring example of how innovation, tradition, and community engagement can come together to protect an ecosystem of global significance. The argan tree’s future depends on our ability to act collectively—combining indigenous knowledge, scientific insight, and inclusive governance to nurture both land and livelihoods. In Morocco, that future is already taking root.