THE ARGAN TRADITON
OF SOUTHWESTERN MOROCCO
"Imma
yargan igh ibbi neff mat ittarin"
(Even when it is fallen, the argan tree will leave heirs)
From Argan song by Archach Group, reported by Mohamed Nassiri, Ibn Zor
University of Agadir 1994-1995 Memoir)
By Helene E. Hagan
The
Argan tree (Argana Spinosa) is indigenous to the Valley of the Souss and the
lower slopes of the Atlas Mountains in southwest Morocco. This remarkable tree of the Sapotaceae
family is unique to the region and grows nowhere else in the world. Argan
groves cover approximately 43% of the land area. From time immemorial, the
argan woodlands have functioned both as a literal anchor against the winds and
erosion of the soil, and a cultural one around which a pastoral way of life and
a traditional home industry of oil extraction from its nut have characterized
this Amazigh community.
The ecological, social, and cultural values of the
argan tree constitute one of North Africa’s unique and most precious natural
resources. It has insured the subsistence of some two million Imazighen in this predominantly rural area of
Morocco.
Targant (Amazigh feminine appellation of the Tree.)
"Old Argan Tree, I salute you from the depths of a world which only knows of you the cosmetics extracted from your oval almond. You are the most resistant and without doubt the most beautiful of all trees." (Mohammed Khair-Eddine, Ibn Zor University, Agadir, December 2004)
The Argan tree, or Moroccan ironwood, is an
evergreen spiny tree, which grows in groves throughout the landscape of
southwest Morocco from Safi southward as far as Goulimine and eastward through
the Souss Valley and Tafraoute where the strongest specimens are found. "Ikst ar sus ar ifggi n Sus ar
ihahan" (from the Atlas Mountains, crossing the Souss to the region of the
Haha, " verse of the Argan Song of Archach Group.)
The tree dates from the geological Tertiary Era,
grows slowly and survives sometimes for centuries. The tree bears fruit when it
is five years old. Its production is at its maximum when it reaches sixty
years. The median lifetime of trees is 150 to 200 years, with the oldest
ranging from 200 to 400 years. The
argan forest covers an area of approximately 320,000 square miles and numbers
some 20 million trees. The tree does not grow below the altitude of 500-600 meters, and above that of 2.000 meters, with
most of its growth concentrated in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.
The argan tree grows to a height of eight to ten
meters. The trunk of the tree is gnarly. Its sturdy and deep roots, while
retaining the soil against constant erosion, allow penetration and retention of
moisture in a land that receives little rainfall. It allows other species to
grow in its shade. Its wood is used in construction. Its nuts are harvested in
a unique manner through the agency of tree-climbing goats. The extracted oil is
of an exquisite quality and taste, and it is used locally both for its
nutritional properties and medicinal virtues.
Argan by-products which are left at the bottom of the press during the
process of oil extraction ("tazgemmut") are also essential as fuel
and fodder for the animals.
The tree is key to the ecological stability of the
region. Today, the ancient knowledge of its nutritional and medicinal
properties has grown beyond the local community, and reached the international
scene. While many plants have
significant import for the health of certain indigenous people throughout the
world, few of those acquire any reputation outside the local native populations
of an ecosystem in which they thrive, and where a traditional use of native
species is maintained.
Today, the argan tree is acquiring somewhat of a
reputation outside Morocco. The recent story of the development and surge of
the traditional oil extraction industry is a remarkable one, and owes a great
deal to one woman, Dr. Zoubida
Charrouf, Chemistry Department of the University Mohamed V in Rabat. This
story, and that of the Amazigh women who are involved in it, is a superb
example of cultural and economic development based on traditional knowledge and
practices in the modern world.
The Collect of
the Argan Fruit ("tigri") and Traditional Oil Extraction.
The fruit of the argan tree is the size of an
apricot or plum, and its white pulp envelops a hard-shelled kernel, which
contains from one to three pits, or almonds.
The fruit matures between May and July and turns bright yellow when
ripe. A tree's average yield of fruit is about 8 kgs per year.
Traditionally, herds of climbing goats are taken to argan groves
in the Spring and summer, allowed to gorge themselves on the fruit, then led home in the evening where they are
plied with lots of water, making them regurgitate the almonds. These nuts are
said to be far superior to that which would be harvested by human hand. The form of collective gathering of the
fruit by hand ("ar gerrun ifeyyacen," the local term in the region of
Essouira among the Haha Ayt Yasin) is authorized by local assemblies after the
fruit is allowed to mature, and occurs in July and August. Public criers relay
the decision taken by the assemblies of notables, shouting from village to
village: "The Argan is authorized."
The fruit is collected with special offerings named "Isisel"
to dispel all bad influences, carried in baskets and taken home for processing,
and ultimately furnishes the oil.
First, the fruit is allowed to dry. The pits are then extracted, and
cracked open ("awrag") on a special flat stone ('asarg n wawrag.")
The action of breaking the nut (aqqa) is called "irga." The flat,
hard stone on which the nut is cracked is called "assarwag." The argan nut which has been shelled of its
almond (tizenin) or pitted fruit is called "irgn." Today, the dried fruit can also be bought is
local markets and shelled by women who specialize in the task.
The subsequent part of the process of oil extraction
comes with the roasting of the skinned almonds by the Amazigh women. The
roasted nuts are pounded and mixed with a little warm water and kneaded into a
brownish dough ("ar zemman tazgmmut") which is pressed through a
traditional millstone at home, following certain ritual procedures,
incantations and offerings to insure its beneficial properties. An offering of
a few drops in the four directions is essential before any consumption of the
new oil. The obtained oil is one of the purest oils in the world with
remarkable properties. The by-products
of this extraction are used for the making of “amlou” (a rich mixture of almond
butter made of ground nuts and honey generally consumed at breakfast) and
fodder for animals. This leftover substance fed to the cattle is called
"tawrrit."
The process of oil extraction is lengthy and time
consuming. Until recently, it was
home-based and labor intensive. It is estimated, for instance, that the collection
of argan fuel wood amounts to 800,000 working days a year, while the extraction
of oil is approximated to 20,000,000 working days. One needs one hundred kilogs
of nuts to produce one or two kilogs of oil. Another set of statistics
indicates that it takes at least two working days to produce one liter of argan oil. Traditional use of the
argan oil is domestic, nutritional, therapeutic, and cosmetic. Local use as a
skin emollient and against arthritis, for instance, has led to its use as
massage oil, and a beauty aid. Another
use of the oil is for home soap making, and the tree has been found to be rich
in saponins in recent chemical analysis. Saponins are natural detergents found
in certain plants, mainly desert plants, with cholesterol-lowering properties.
With the advent of oil producing co-ops in the
region of Essaouira, it is estimated that the yearly production of oil for that
region is about 1,000 to 2, 000 tons.
The Argan
socio-economic and symbolic value in Amazigh life.
"imik n
usxn d ubazin aygh ur inegh." ("We have long sweetened our dry bread
with your oil," Argan Song of
Archach Group)
The argan tree has marked the lives and imagination
of the Amazigh people of this territory for centuries. It has inspired poetry,
art forms, and local stories. It is a symbol of local culture, inextricably
linked to Amazigh cultural identity in the Souss Valley and around Agadir and
Essaouira. It symbolizes the natural
health of the land, the people, and that of their cultural survival. Even if
the tourists that flock today to the super resorts of the coastal areas do not
know of this wealth, the ancient world was not totally ignorant of the value of
argan oil. Written records of its extraction date back to the thirteenth
century AD, and the oil was exported to Europe in the eighteenth century, but
was supplanted by the popularity of the olive oil, less nutty in its flavor.
The oil has a distinctive flavor, somewhat akin to that of walnut oil. There
are degrees of purity, and the purest is highly valued. It is not recommended
to purchase argan oil on the open market or the side of the road, as such oil
is impure (often mixed with other oils) and is often degraded by the lack of
hygiene by which it is bottled in recycled containers, and other odd vials. Its shelf life is relatively short.
The Argan Oil
enters the global market.
The active ingredients of argan oil were not
identified until modern chemistry took a look: it is here that the work of a
dedicated Moroccan chemist, Dr. Zoubida Charrouf, began to affect the argan oil
industry of the region. This extraordinary woman combines the dedication and
skills of a superb scientist and researcher with a commitment to helping
improve the condition of women. Her passion
stems from reading once that in the nineteenth century, a French researcher
remarked that there is an active ingredient in the argan nut, the properties of
which, however, he did not identify. No
one, she mused, was ever curious enough to enquire what was this active
ingredient or principle. Those who work on the chemistry of the argan tree
wrote on the virtues of the oil without clearly isolating the active
ingredients that made the oil so unique. It is her curiosity that led here,
step by step, to identify the molecular substances unique to that oil, and
those were anti-oxidants.
Feeling rather sad that such oil, with remarkable
medicinal and therapeutic properties, was being produced by pounding stones,
and often sold in doubtful containers on the side of the road, she began to
formulate a way to change its production.
She busied herself to ameliorate the extraction and
the production of argan oil, through the development of an industrial press,
and the creation of Amazigh co-operatives of women, empowering them along the
way. “I have been criticized, “ she is
quoted to have said in a newspaper interview in French a couple of years ago, “
for three things. "First, for pushing women into business. Second, for ameliorating the extraction
process of argan oil, and finally for being interested in a tree that belongs
to the people, and not academicians.”
She has successfully engaged the Amazigh women of
Tamanar and Tidzi into the creation of thriving co-ops under their own
direction. Tidzi was founded in 1998,
and Tamanar in 2000. The oil produced by
these co-ops is bottled according to international standards as to purity and
health. The co-ops have obtained not only certification for export to Europe,
Canada and the United States, but the AMAL co-op of Tamanar has been the
recipient of an international 2001 Biodiversity Award. They are also engaged
today in the production of cosmetics, with worldwide distribution
potential. There are 47 women employed
full-time at the factories and 120 women working part-time from their homes.
The first year’s business for these co-ops was around $100,000. By all standards, it was a success.
Dr Zoubida Charrouf has combined three ingredients
in her activism and contribution to the Amazigh culture: women’s liberation and
empowerment, argan products, and the preservation of a native natural resource
in danger. She has been called “The Champion of the Argan Tree.” Her doctorate
in organic chemistry gave her the tools to devote her research to what
impassioned her, plants, with which she feels one can dialog. “Plants are
useful.” And why the argan tree
specifically? She gives two reasons for
her lifework and devotion: first, the argan tree is a unique species native of
Morocco, and second, it is under threat of extinction.
Though the argan tree constitutes a national
treasure, more than one third of the argan woodlands has disappeared in the
last one hundred years. It is estimated that where a hundred trees stood, now
only thirty survive. In the last ten
years, several projects have been undertaken to preserve their unique
ecosystem, and the Amazigh cultural heritage associated with this ancient
forest. UNESCO has declared a large portion of the forest a Biosphere Reserve.
For further
information:
Professeur Zoubida Charrouf, Departement de Chimie,
Faculte des Sciences, Universite Mohammed V-Agdal, Avenue Ibn Batouta, BP 1014,
Rabat, Maroc, tel 212 – 37 – 68-28-48 – e-mail: zcharrou@menara.ma. Web site: www.targanine.com
Television program titled “The Land of the Argan Tree” part of the series “Tamazgha, Berber
land of Morocco” (1998) produced by Helene E. Hagan, Amazigh Video Productions,
available in VHS cassette and DVD on the web site. One half-hour. Tazzla
Institute for Cultural Diversity: e-mail tazzla@earthlink.net
and web site www.tazzla.org
Presented By:
THE TAZZLA INSTITUTE FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY
313 South Lamer Street, Burbank,
CA 91506 - heh@tazzla.org
