The High Atlas Foundation & USAID kick-off the very first Farmer-To-Farmer virtual assignment in Morocco, which will be served by former Peace Corps Volunteer and F2F Volunteer Mark Apel, working integrally with Rachida Outouchki the president of Aboughlo Women’s Cooperative. The assignment aims to follow up on an agricultural project managed by the Tassa Ouirgane

– الفشل في التخطيط هو التخطيط للفشل Farmer-to-Farmer Country Director at the High Atlas Foundation How many times have you asked yourself a series of questions about what to prepare for a hike, a trip, or dinner party? You probably thought about what time to leave, what clothes to bring, what food to serve or

Arabic version French version Bill Nichols at the Women’s Cooperative of Tassa Ouirgane, Jan 2020 (HAF) Bill Nichols served as a volunteer consultant to the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) through the Farmer-to-Farmer Program (F2F) for two weeks in January 2020. Originally from New Mexico, now residing in Boston, Bill collaborated as an F2F volunteer with

HAF-F2F program The High Atlas Foundation has, since 2017, conducted 28 Empowerment workshops that are 32 hours each. A total of 755 participants, predominantly women, have benefitted from workshops in Marrakech, Al Haouz, Azilal, Boujdour, Essaouira, Mohammedia, Oujda, Taroudant, and Magouna. As a result, nine new cooperatives were established, which together include 106 members. Evaluation

The High Atlas Foundation (HAF) seeks Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) who served in Morocco to return for assignments of two weeks or longer to assist Moroccan cooperatives in their fields of expertise. The assignments are within the framework of the USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program. Volunteers do not need to be farmers in order to

Celebrating the world environment day, I attended the webinar “What is rural tourism? Opportunities for development” organized by AVOP, who invited two Farmer-To-Farmer volunteers (F2F), Mr. David Visher who is a seasoned Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer, completing 17 assignments in 12 countries, among other accomplishments in academia and with NGOs. And Mrs. Penny Leff who is the statewide Agritourism Coordinator

Arabic version A photo taken by Ilyas Dkhissi during a participatory approach meeting with men and women farmers in Fquih Ben Salah province – Beni Mellal region, on Sep, 4th 2019 For decades, climate change has been left to scientists – and they, to their credit, have given us the strong indication we need that

M&E and Empowerment trainer The F2f program conducted the Latin America & the Caribbean Regional Meeting that took place in Kingston, Jamaica from January 5-11, 2020. Morocco was one of the 13 countries that had the opportunity to attend this conference as an only African, Arab, Muslim country. Guatemala, Colombia, Guyana, Philippine, Pero and other

.التخطيط الأخضر: من التجريد إلى أرض الواقع ، بقلم :لورا هيجنز- نيل، متطوعة في مشروع: من مزارع إلى مزارع، في مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير, Al watan Voice. HAF Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer At times, contemporary development strategies can appear generic, or disconnected, with potentially very broad, vague language.  The word “Green” has been tossed around so much in

HAF-F2F team member On February 27th, two of the High Atlas Foundation’s team members, Mr. Moulay Hassan Aladlouni, Country Director of the Farmer-to-Farmer program, and Fatima Zahra Laaribi, Administrative Support and Finance, Farmer-to-Farmer program attended the USAID Implementing Partners Meeting organized by USAID/ Morocco. The meeting took place at Sofitel in Rabat Salle ALBA MAXIMA

HAF-F2F team member On Monday February 17th, the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) began its sixth assignment funded by USAID.For this occasion, HAF enlisted an expert from the United States through the Farmer-to-Farmer program with 25 years of experience in food safety practices, Mrs. Deneen Reif. Throughout her career, Mrs. Reif has helped companies in the

Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer I am a late career American businessman. Currently, I volunteer about four times each year with NGOs in developing and middle-income countries. I assist across a range of business disciplines (marketing, sales, strategic planning, and organizational improvement.) Over the past 10 years, I have conducted 55 volunteer assignments in more than 20 countries.

Prof. Ellen Hernandez HAF Volunteer On a sunny, winter morning, our team leaves the HAF office for Al Haouz province. Today, we will visit two nurseries with an American business expert – a USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer – who will devise a plan for each cooperative to help improve productivity. Our team includes our driver, the

By Professor Ellen Hernandez HAF Volunteer The High Atlas Foundation’s office in Marrakech is a beehive of activity. I am a new volunteer who arrived in Morocco yesterday and already met with office staff. Today, I have been invited to return to meet Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, the HAF president, and I have just entered during

Project Manager Last week, HAF’s team members managing the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer program in Morocco visited three potential host organizations in the Youssoufia province, in order to conduct participatory needs assessments and prepare new assignments for the agricultural expert volunteers, great opportunities are presented to discuss project priorities and ideas by members to  advance the growth

– آن ماري ديل كاستيلو تكتب: من الرمان إلى عصير الرمان, Non Online, 10 December 2019. By Anne Marie Del Castillo Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer As a retired agricultural economist, I participated in the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program in Morocco, administered by the High Atlas Foundation. F2F’s main goal is to generate sustainable, broad-based

by Hajiba Boumasmar HAF Intern On September 28, 2019, we visited both the Argan Majji Cooperative and the Agricultural Cooperative Argan Mogador for Argan Oil Extraction with HAF Project Manager Errachid Montassir, HAF Project Assistant Hassan Ait Ouatouch, and USAID Farmer to Farmer Officer Stephanie Frankenza. Argan Majji Cooperative Visit The Argan Majji cooperative was

By Nora Martetschläger HAF Intern My last days were all about Pomegranates. I visited Pomegranate farms, ate them fresh from the tree, had some delicious pomegranate juice and learned a lot about the pomegranate business. The reason for all this were two trips to Lalla Takerkoust on 29th and 30th of October together with my

Georgina Kenchington HAF Volunteer Quote of the day: mother nature is most definitely in charge here. Approximately 270 kilometers, or 3.5 hours drive from Oujda lies Bouarfa, the destination of my first experience with cooperatives as a volunteer with the High Atlas Foundation. More specifically, the Farmer-to-Farmer USAID Project, which aims to harness the potential

Georgina Kenchington HAF Volunteer No matter where you are in the world, it’s (nearly) guaranteed, unless something has gone horribly wrong with the solar system, that every evening the sun will set and colors will dance across the sky before dusk, and eventually darkness, take hold. It’s a perfect time for reflection and to simply

By Yaniv Teitel HAF Intern, graduate student at the Glocal program I got the chance to join HAF’s Farmer-to-Farmer staff on their first meeting with the Pomegranate Cooperative at Awlad Abdallah. Farmer-to-Farmer is a capacity-building program that HAF is conducting in rural areas in Morocco as part of a partnership with USAID. It was a

By Camelia Harkousse, HAF intern July 25, 2019 On July 23, 2019, Ms. Fatima-Zahra Laaribi participated in a webinar dedicated to Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) projects funded by USAID. The objective of the seminar was to give an opportunity for stakeholders involved in future similar projects to benefit from lessons learned and experiences gained by fellow NGOs

    Participating in the Annual Farmer-to-Farmer Implementers Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina By Yossef Ben-Meir, Ph.D. President, High Atlas FoundationHere is what I consider a joyful and fulfilling week: 80 or so people gathered from around the world to consider together wide-ranging issues in relation to supporting expert volunteers, for instance how they, cooperatives,

I remember in the mid-90s when I had the great fortune to be a Peace Corps Volunteer and live with the village communities of the Toubkal municipality in the High Atlas Mountains.  The people expressed how fruit tree revenue far outweighed what they generated from growing barley and corn using traditional methods.  We also learned

– Coming of Age in Tassa Ouirgane, Modern Ghana, by Mark Apel (Community Extension Expert), 17 May 2017. • Arabic: Al Bayader, 7 July 2017. By Mark Apel- USAID Farmer to Farmer Volunteer, Former Peace Coprs Morocco Volunteer. From 1985 until 1986, I was a Peace Corps Volunteer living in the Azzeden Valley working for the country’s Eaux et

– Visionaries Then and Now, by Thomas Kimmel (Agricultural Expert), 21 March 2018, HAF Blog. • Arabic: Maghress Cawalisee, 16 April 2018. • French: HAF Blog, 14 November 2018. In the 1980’s, a solo American made a huge impact on Ouaouizerth, Morocco, an Amazigh village, located in the western High Atlas Mountains.  His name was J. Christopher Stevens, a Peace Corps.