Rosemary, a success story in the Oriental

	Mr. Jaouad Bahaji, director of agriculture programs at USAID/Morocco gives explanations to His Majesty King Mohammed VI

With the support of the United States Agency for International Development in Morocco (USAID/Morocco), Jerada’s Beni Yaala Zkara cooperative has realised its first sale of rosemary essential oil in a promising British market.

Through its Integrated Agriculture and Agribusiness Programme (IAA), USAID/Morocco supported the Beni Yaala Zkara cooperative in sealing its first international sale of organic rosemary essential oil to a large British company.  The IAA program worked with the cooperative to send a sample of its oil to the company and to negotiate the first of a series of sales in the British market.

Morocco’s Oriental region is rich with aromatic and medicinal plants, and from an economic standpoint, rosemary remains the most important product. Rosemary has been known as a favored seasoning in many Mediterranean dishes, as well as an ingredient in soaps and other beauty products. Perhaps less well known is the herb’s purported medicinal benefits.

According to the University of Maryland’s Medical Center, rosemary has been used since 500 BC to improve memory and hair growth, to relieve muscle and kidney pain, and to slow the growth of harmful bacteria. Some researchers are also investigating rosemary’s cancer-fighting potential.

With interest growing worldwide in the business of nutraceuticals—crops that improve human health—Morocco’s rosemary crop was a prime candidate for economic development.

Following the path drawn up by the Moroccan government, USAID/Morocco is conducting a program that works for the promotion of different agricultural products. In the Oriental region, the program concentrates on the harvesting of rosemary and other aromatic and medicinal plants in Jerada, Talsint and Debdou, which are well adapted to these kind of products.

Benefiting from USAID’s support, the Beni Yaala Zkara cooperative is one of the model cooperatives in the Oriental region. Before the arrival of USAID/Morocco, the cooperative’s activities centered on the collection and drying of rosemary for the domestic market only.

The cooperative had used traditional harvesting methods since 1975. But because farmers are paid for their harvests by weight, rosemary farmers dug up entire plants and failed to replant rosemary at sustainable rates. These practices led to over-harvesting, and would have quickly resulted in the extinction of the wild-growing herb.

To combat these practices, USAID trained members of this cooperative and other cooperatives on the best harvesting practices for rosemary. Collectors were also assisted in the packaging and labelling of the plant’s essential oil, as well as the diversification of production of other high-value products, such as thyme, basil and saffron.

Today, collectors cut only 50% of each rosemary plant and the cooperatives have agreed to cultivate at least 10 ha of rosemary every year. Moreover, the collectors are now pruning the old plants so that they regenerate and give better crops in the future. Thus, the Beni Yaala Zkara cooperative learned sustainable harvesting techniques, acquired organic certification of its products, and started to produce essential oil.

“In order to have a better position in the market, organic certification should be obtained, offering high quality aromatic and medicinal plants,” explained Mohamed Chamarik, a Moroccan exporter of aromatic and medicinal plants.

As a direct result of USAID’s assistance, cooperative members’ revenues increased and new job opportunities were created within the local economy.

“We had been jobless for about eight years. We had to confront drought and climate change that hit the semi-arid region. The activities of the cooperative almost came to a halt. But today, with USAID’s intervention, we have given the cooperative a new life; we have created direct and indirect jobs and have been able to double our profits in the last year,” underlined the president of Beni Yaala Zkara, Tayeb Errezougui.

In addition to the jobs created by the cooperative, the introduction of new techniques for rosemary exploitation and preservation have enabled its members to improve the living conditions of their families, increase production yields and produce superior quality products. 

In February 2008,a partnership agreement was signed in the Jerada province between USAID, the Water and Forests Ministry, the province of Jerada, and the Beni Yaala Zkara cooperative to improve the collection and sale of aromatic and medicinal plants. The fruit of this partnership includes the installation of a modern distillation unit in Jerada which has enabled the production of higher quality essential oils. These oils will be sold at higher prices domestically and internationally, resulting in an increase of members’ revenues.

The Moroccan government hopes to replicate the model of the Beni Yaala Zkara rosemary cooperative in different regions. The cooperative’s success in modernizing the production of aromatic and medicinal plants is contributing to the government’s efforts to reduce poverty, improve living conditions, and integrate youth into the economic life of rural Morocco.

“Through its efforts in the Jerada Province, USAID is contributing directly to local economic development through the creation of 150 to 200 new jobs and the preservation of natural resources for future generations,” stressed Mr. Bahaji, USAID/Morocco’s development assistance specialist and program manager. “USAID has helped to link the cooperative to buyers on the national and international levels, which has resulted in both higher sales volumes and a 20 percent increase in sale price per kilo for rosemary.”