The Farmer to Farmer (F2F) team visited several cooperatives in the Azilal province on December 16 to collect data, meet new hosts in Ait Iazza village of Afourer commune, and ascertain their activities and technical needs.

Afourer Cooperative

Afourer cooperative was created in 2011 by a group of local women for pickling olives and citrus fruits and using local products in the spice industry. The cooperative works on exporting spices and olives to Italy, olives to Qatar and pickles to China. They are looking to get training in making black olive jam and in using olive extract in other products.

Nour Afourer Cooperative

A group of young people from Ait Iazza village created an agricultural cooperative for raising rabbits, poultry and livestock in March 2021, in addition to the production and marketing of agricultural materials. Even though their cooperative is relatively new, the six members have grown quickly from three to 40 rabbits and 40 to 120 chickens. “As for the financial aspect, we are trying our best to cover the expenses. Now we are in dire need of expanding our business. That is why we hope to receive extensive training on raising farm chickens and municipal chickens as well as obtaining assistance designing the headquarters of the cooperative with responsive standards of health safety,” said Mr. El Khalil Aziz, the co-op president.

Anissaa Litanmiya

In 2018, ten local women from El Hbabiss village created a cooperative to make and sell all kinds of baked goods. Because of some management problems, five women left the co-op. However, the rest of the women are very motivated to work, create, and fight against their hard conditions. They feel that they will benefit from the IMAGINE workshops.

Oleicol Afourer Cooperative

At nine years old now, the Oleicol Afourer Cooperative has modern machines for pressing olives and might be the biggest press in the region. They are now trying to export their product outside of Morocco, and they would like to be trained in using olive extract in cosmetic products.