CHAPTER 8 The Agoundis Valley Distillation Project

369 Pages·2012·5.43 MB·English

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Montanari, Bernadette (2012) A critical analysis of the introduction of essential
oil distillation in the High Atlas of Morocco with reference to the role of
gendered traditional knowledge. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University
of Kent.
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A critical analysis of the introduction of essential
oil distillation in the High Atlas of Morocco with
reference to the role of gendered traditional
knowledge

Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Ethnobiology
by
Bernadette Montanari
School of Anthropology and Conservation
University of Kent at Canterbury
2012
Abstract

A new decentralisation policy in Morocco in line with international development best
practice policies promises a close partnership with local communities to overcome local
natural resource degradation, poverty and out-migration. Community-based resource
management is believed to enhance these strategies. This thesis investigates and
evaluates the mechanisms of implementation for a project to produce essential oil in a
Berber community of the High Atlas Mountains, and seeks to examine the role of
gendered traditional practices in this context.

Using ethnobotanical and anthropological approaches, the research identifies
factors that jeopardise the successful implementation of the project. At the macro level,
the study suggests that a decentralisation policy claiming to be participatory does not
address the central local issues, and does not build on community norms and customs
that might better facilitate implementation of the project. It is shown that the aim of the
government is not to integrate the community as an equal partner in decision-making, to
promulgate local socio-economic development, but rather to act as an employer of a
local labour force.

Within the community, the project was initially perceived as promising socio-
economic leverage, but has so far benefited only a handful of individuals. Local lineage
politics and traditional political culture threatens community development. Although
these also influence women’s interests, my results show that traditional knowledge
practices, especially those of women, are crucial to the success of the enterprise.

The study reveals, however, that the community possesses inherent key features
that would facilitate community-based resource management. These refer to the
communities’ internal organisation, a population eager to earn an income, and an
abundance of aromatic and medicinal plants, particularly thyme and lavender, from
which a valuable essential oil is extracted. The communities could therefore benefit
from the onward sale of these products in the country’s lucrative herbal market.
I
Acknowledgements
This thesis could not have been completed without the co-operation, help and support of
many people. In particular, my gratitude goes to the people of El Maghzen and to the
eight villages of the Agoundis valley who agreed to host and participate in the study and
who, between them, have provided the majority of the field data upon which this thesis
is based.
In particular, I would like to mention the Aid Abderkrim family, Mohamed, Ijja,
Mina, Fatima, Omar, Mustapha, Lhacen and Brahim for being my host family and made
it possible to establish myself in El Maghzen. Thank you to Fadma (El Maghzen),
Mustapha from Tijrichte, Fouad from Ijoukak, Abdou and Jamal from Marrakech for
their effort to conduct interviews with me, often in difficult climatic conditions
throughout the valley. Thank you to Said El Badaoui from Ijoukak, Omar Rome,
Youssef Hammouzachi from the Department of Water and Forestry, Amour de Riad in
Marrakech, Jaafar, Mohamed, Olivier, Vincent, Isabelle Kuc, Marc and Andre
Montanari and the whole Montanari family for their support, Fadia Merabet, Diarra
Wade, Sannae Hammi, Allae, Kebir, Mohamed Knidiri from the Association Le Grand
Atlas, Farid Kassidi, Mohamed Alifriqui, Khalid Bekkouche, Abdelaziz Abbad,
Abderrahmane Romane from Semlalia, Faculty of Sciences, University Cadi Ayyad in
Marrakech, Michael Mills for his meticulous proof reading. Thank you to the governor
of Al Haouz Province and Khadija from the Ministry of Interior in Rabat for speeding
up the delivery of my research permits. A very special thank to Professor David Leach
from Southern Cross University, Australia, who has permitted the contact with the
Laboratoire de Biotechnologies Végétales appliquées aux Plantes Aromatiques et
Médicinales, Université Jean Monnet, St Etienne in France, and Professor Laurent
Legendre for the phyto-chemical analysis of the essential oils.
At the University of Kent, I am most grateful to my supervisor Professor Roy
Ellen for his excellent guidance, patience and support throughout, a special thank to Dr
Rajindra Puri, Dr Anna Waldstein, Dr Helen Newing, my colleagues from the School of
Anthropology and Conservation, Calum Blaikie, Graciela Alcantara Salinas, Oswaldo
de Carvalho Jr, Peter Wilkin, Yoshimi Osawa for their support. Thanks to Dr Gary
Robinson from the School of Biosciences at the University of Kent, for his advice on
essential oil chemistry.
II
A deep thought goes to my father who passed away just before I left for my
fieldwork. A big and special thank to my son Luke who has always encouraged and
supported me. I thank my close friends the Brahka family, Patrick Dear, Denise and
Richard, my close French friends Ginette, Patrick and Lucienne, Louis and Rosanna for
their support.
This research would not have been possible without the financial support of the
Gen Foundation, the FFWG, the John Ray Trust and the Royal Anthropological
Institute.
Finally, I dedicate this thesis to all Amazigh people throughout Morocco and
the Maghreb in the hope that through enterprise, they may reintegrate their identity and
preserve their culture.

III
Acronyms

ABD African Bank of Development
ADS Agence de développement solidaire
CADEFA Coopérative Agoundis de Développement de l’Environnement
Forestier et Agricole
CBE Community-based enterprise
CBNRM Community-based resource management
CBO Community-based organisation
CDRT Centre de développement de la région du Tensift
CSCM Conference of Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean
DPA Direction départementale de l’agriculture
EU European Union
ESW Economic and sectorial work
ENP European Neighbourhood Policy
DREFF Direction régionale des Eaux et Forets
FEM Fonds Environnement Mondial
FIDA Fonds International de développement de l’Agriculture
FSD Fonds Saoudien pour le développement
FTA Free trade area
GEF Global Environment Facility
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GTZ German society for technical cooperation
HCP Haut Commissariat au plan
HCEFLCD High Commissioner of Water and Forestry and Fight against Desertification
HCEFLCD Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et à la Lutte Contre la Désertification
HPLC high performance liquid chromatography
IFAD International fund for agricultural development
IMF International Monetary Fund
INDH Initiative Nationale de développement humain
IRD Institut de recherche et de développement
INRA Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture
IRCAM Institut royal de la culture Amazigh
MAP Medicinal and aromatic plants
MDG Millennium Development Goals
MPC Mediterranean partner countries
MSA Moroccan standard Arabic
ODECO Office du développement et de la coopération
PAN Plan d’action National de lutte contre la désertification
PNUD Programme des nations unies pour le développement
TCM Traditional Chinese medicine
TNP Toubkal National Park
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
WB World Bank
WHO World Health Organization
UNIFEM Fonds des Nations Unies pour la Femme
UNOPS United Nations Office for Project Services
IV
USFTA US Free trade agreements
US United States

V
Table of contents

CHAPTER 1: Introduction Pages 1-17
1.1 Development theory and practice
1.2 Aims and objectives
1.3 The research location: El Maghzen, Agoundis Valley, High Atlas Mountains
1.4 Development issues in remote areas
1.5 Community-based resource management
1.6 Indigenous enterpreneurship
1.7 From community-based natural resource management to indigenous
entrepreneurship
1.8 The organisation of the thesis

CHAPTER 2: Decentralisation of Natural Resource Management Pages 18-38
and Development in a Moroccan Context
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Deconcentration and political decentralisation
2.3 Decentralisation and its worldwide implication
2.4 Accountability and political articulation
2.5 Corruption
2.6 Land conflict
2.7 Decentralisation can be successful
2.8 External factors and decentralisation in Morocco
2.9 Early attempts at decentralisation under the Protectorate
2.10 Post-independence decentralisation
2.11 Present day decentralisation
2.12 Conclusion

CHAPTER 3: The Geographic and Socio-political Context Pages 39-71
3.1 Morocco: geographical situation
3.2 The Moroccan political system
3.3 General economic conditions
3.4 The High Atlas Mountains
VI
3.5 The Toubkal National Park: a biodiversity hot-spot
3.6 Historical context
3.7 The French Protectorate
3.8 Caids
3.9 The suppression of Berber culture and identity
3.10 Social organisation
3.11 Jama’a
3.12 The Agoundis valley: geographical characteristics
3.13 The Agoundis valley: socio-economic characteristics
3.14 Migration
3.15 The production systems of the Agoundis valley
3.16 The social management of irrigation and transhumance
3.17 Conclusion

CHAPTER 4: Fieldwork in the Agoundis Valley Pages 72-91
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The observing participant in applied anthropology
4.3 The project and its methodology
4.3.1 The villages
4.3.2 The use of questionnaires
4.4 Special groups of research subjects
4.4.1 The middlemen
4.4.2 The local authorities
4.4.3 Centre de développement de la région du Tensift (CDRT)
4.4.4 Toubkal National Park and Department of Water and Forestry
4.4.5 Workshop for the restitution of the results of MAP evaluation studies
for potential and added value
4.4.6 Al Haouz provincial office and INDH
4.4.7 Cooperative d’ Agoundis bureau
4.4.8 Tudert Cooperative, Smimou, Essouira
4.5 Collecting data on traditional botanical knowledge
4.6 Limitations of the research methodology

VII
CHAPTER 5: The Economics of Herbal Medicine Pages 92-112
5.1. The revival in demand for herbal medicine
5.2. The global economic value of medicinal plants
5.3. The pharmaceutical industry and plant drug extraction
5.4. A brief history of essential oils
5.5. Essential oils in the modern pharmaceutical industry
5.6. The development and trade of medicinal and aromatic plants in Morocco
5.7. The economic value of thyme in the Agoundis valley
5.8. Adding value
5.9. The sustainability of thyme harvesting
5.10. Conclusion

CHAPTER 6: The Ethnobotany of Medicinal and Aromatic Pages 113-133
plants in El Maghzen and its Potential for Development
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Thyme
6.2.1 Thymus satureioides: compounds of interest
6.2.2 The analysis of Thymus satureioides essential oil distillate
6.2.3 Thyme in traditional medicine
6.3 Lavender
6.3.1 Lavandula: compounds of interest
6.3.2 The analysis of Lavandula dentata essential oil distillate
6.4. Sage (Salvia aucheri)
6.4.1 Salvia: compounds of interest
6.5 Other plants and resources with potential for development in the Agoundis
valley
6.5.1 Artemisia
6.5.2 Chenopodium
6.5.3 Cistus
6.5.4 Globularia
6.5.5 Horehound
6.5.6 Inula
6.5.7 Iris
6.5.8 Lancert
VIII