Blog #3.13 Argan Sector Stakeholders

Professor Jadaoui gave us a great overview of the history, importance, and geography of argan in his French lecture at Foundation Dar Si Hmad. He stated that argan trees are endemic to Morocco, and span 820,000 hectares (7% of Morocco’s landmass) as the second largest plant species in the country. The hot and humid climate in Morocco allows argan trees to thrive here and also serves as the main defense from desertification.

Professor Jadaoui’s lecture on the landscape of argan stakeholders at Foundation Dar Si Hmad (photo by Foundation Dar Si Hmad)

Prof. Jadaoui also discussed how the argan tree is very important to the country’s prosperity as an ecological and socio-economic pillar. He explained how this has led to conflict between preservation of the trees and its use as an economic resource. This dialogue was then pushed into public discourse, which led to the creation of the UNESCO national biosphere preserve for Morocco’s argan forests in 1998.

Prof. Jadaoui (photo by Foundation Dar Si Hmad)

Over the last century there was a large decrease of tree density due to people using the wood for making charcoal, especially during the French colonial period around World War I when charcoal was needed for trains. There have also been impacts from growing urbanization over time that have diminished the area where trees grow. He also explained that before 1996, argan oil was only used for household consumption, but the growing economic interest to market it gave birth to a sector with multiple stakeholders. He displayed many interesting maps within his lecture that the GIS team hopes to incorporate in our research as well. 

Merci Professor Jadaoui!

-By Isabelle Haddad, UC-Merced Engineering MS Student and GIS Team Lead, 2024