Agroecology: how one Moroccan village changed their financial landscape
The success story of one small Moroccan village provides a working model for how a community can sustainably support and finance itself.
The village of Brachoua in Morocco – located in a rural area 50km from the capital, Rabat – has long known what it's like to live without running water or electricity. With 60 families trying to survive in this state of precarious insecurity, and with few economic resources available, the villagers decided to take action into their own hands. With the support of the Ibn Albaytar Association (AIA), the villagers joined together in search of realistic solutions, establishing themselves as the Modern Farmer's Association at the end of 2013.
"During one of our first meetings with the members of the Modern Farmer's NGO, we gave them a tour of an organic farm near Rabat. They were inspired by the concept, and we suggested to them that they could use the same techniques back home," explains Mohamed Chefchaouni from the AIA.
From this initial visit to the organic farm, the villagers decided to learn from these techniques and develop their own self-sufficient, permaculture farming system for their region. The growing demand for organic products over the past few years has added further value to their locally sourced crops.
Read the full article by Sabrina Belhouari via L'Orient-Le Jour.
[Photo by mhobl | Flickr]
