By Associated Press’s SAM METZ
Morocco’s SMIMOU (AP) Argan oil is luxurious, soothing, and hydrating as it flows through your fingertips like liquid gold. In Morocco, it is valued more than its global reputation as a miracle cosmetic. It is a result of a forest gradually collapsing under the strain of increasing demand and a lifeline for rural women.
Women grind down kernels while crouched over stone mills to manufacture it. After about two days of labor, they can make around $3 for one kilogram, which is sufficient to establish a small presence in a market with limited prospects. It also connects them to earlier generations.
This is where we were born and brought up. According to cooperative worker Fatma Mnir, these customs are derived from nature, our ancestors’ teachings, and our inheritance.
Argan oil, which has long been a mainstay in local markets, is now found in high-end hair and skin care products that line pharmacy aisles all over the world. However, overharvesting on top of drought-straining trees that were originally thought to be durable in the most extreme conditions is endangering argan forests due to its unchecked popularity.
The stakes go beyond the trees, endangering treasured customs, according to Hafida El Hantati, owner of one of the cooperatives that gathers the fruit and presses it for oil.
At the Ajddigue cooperative near the seaside town of Essaouira, she stated, “We have to care for and protect this tree because if we lose it, we will lose everything that defines us and what we have now.”
Argan trees have provided food for humans and animals, held soil in place, and prevented the spread of the desert for generations in the dry hills between the Atlantic Ocean and the Atlas Mountains.
The prickly trees can withstand temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) and regions with less than an inch of yearly precipitation. With roots that reach 115 feet (35 meters) below the surface, they can withstand drought. As a component of the forest’s regeneration cycle, goats climb trees, eat their fruit, and eventually spread the seeds.
Moroccans sprinkle oil over tagines and swirl it into nut butters. Packed with vitamin E, it is applied to dry skin and hair to hydrate, plump, and prevent damage. Some people use it to treat chicken pox or soothe eczema.
However, the woodland is now thinner. Trees with twisted branches from thirst produce less fruits. In many locations, they have been replaced by cultivated land as tomato and citrus crops, many of which are planted for export, have increased.
In the past, communities controlled forests together, establishing guidelines for harvesting and grazing. The system is currently collapsing, as theft is frequently reported.
However, the forest has decreased by 40% from its initial size of 5,405 square miles (14,000 square kilometers) before the turn of the century. Argan trees are not unbeatable, according to scientists.
According to Zoubida Charrouf, a chemist who studies argan at Universit Mohammed V in Rabat, the gradual removal of argan trees has become seen as an ecological catastrophe since they served as a green curtain shielding a sizable portion of southern Morocco from the advancing Sahara.
One aspect of the issue is the changing climate. As temperatures rise, the seasons become out of rhythm, causing fruit and flowers to bloom earlier each year.
Goats that aid in seed distribution can sometimes be harmful, particularly if they consume seedlings before they reach adulthood. As fruit collectors and herders from drier areas encroach on plots that have long been assigned to particular families, overgrazing has gotten worse.
Additionally, camels that are bred and raised by the wealthy in the area pose a threat to the woodlands. According to Charrouf, camels cause long-lasting harm by extending their necks into trees and chomping whole limbs.
In hundreds of cooperatives today, women peel, crack, and press argan for oil. A lot passes through intermediaries to be sold in goods by L Oral, Unilever, and Est e Lauder firms and subsidiaries.
Employees, meanwhile, claim they make little money while earnings go elsewhere. Cooperatives claim that rising costs are mostly to blame for the strain. Three decades ago, a one-liter bottle cost 25 Moroccan dirhams ($2.50), but today it costs 600 dirhams ($60). Argan-infused products fetch even higher prices overseas. Argan is referred to many cosmetics industry as the priciest vegetable oil available.
Global demand and prices were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, and numerous cooperatives shut down. Cooperative officials claim that while drought has reduced the amount of oil that can be extracted from each fruit, new rivals have flooded the market.
Cooperatives were established to give women a monthly base salary and a portion of the earnings. However, few earn more than Morocco’s minimal monthly income, according to Jamila Id Bourrous, president of the Union of Women’s Argan Cooperatives.
According to her, the folks who sell the finished product are the ones who profit.
Large multinational corporations, according to some businesses, exploit their size to set prices and exclude competitors.
According to Ageourde Cooperative co-owner Khadija Saye, there are legitimate concerns around monopolies.
She advised against competing with the impoverished for the one resource they rely on for survival. It’s displacement rather than competition when you take their product and improve it because you have more money.
Local cooperative data shows that one company, Olvea, dominates 70% of the export market. Few rivals, according to cooperatives, can match their ability to fulfill large orders for well-known international companies. Requests for comment were not answered by corporate representatives.
A government water truck makes its way between tree rows on a hilltop overlooking the Atlantic, stopping sometimes to hose newly sprouting saplings.
Morocco started planting 39 square miles (100 square kilometers) of trees on private property that borders the woodlands in 2018. Argan trees and capers alternate rows, a practice known as intercropping, to increase soil fertility and preserve water.
The goal is to increase the amount of forest cover and demonstrate that argan can be a profitable crop if managed well. Officials believe it will persuade others to reinvest in the land and relieve strain on the overharvested commons. Due to a drought, the trees have not produced this year as anticipated.
The chain of supply is another problem.
There are four middlemen between the village woman and the ultimate purchaser. Everybody gets cut. According to Id Bourrous, the union president, the cooperatives sell cheaply to someone who pays up front since they cannot afford to store.
In an effort to assist producers hang onto their goods longer and bargain for better prices, the government has tried to construct storage facilities. So far, cooperatives say it hasn t worked, but a new version is expected in 2026 with fewer barriers to access.
Despite problems, there s money to be made.
During harvest season, women walk into the forest with sacks, scanning the ground for fallen fruit. To El Hantati, the forest, once thick and humming with life, feels quieter now. Only the winds and creaking trees are audible as goats climb branches in search of remaining fruits and leaves.
When I was young, we d head into the forest at dawn with our food and spend the whole day gathering. The trees were green all year long, she said.
She paused, worried about the future as younger generations pursue education and opportunities in larger cities.
I m the last generation that lived our traditions weddings, births, even the way we made oil. It s all fading.
Islam Aatfaoui contributed reporting.
The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP sstandardsfor working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas atAP.org.
