Our Co-founder CEO David writes: We’ve been working with Simo and Stefan in Morocco since 2009. In 2016 we visited with one of the cooperatives – the Al Amal – and participated in our first tree planning project. You can see me below planting one of 400 saplings back then. Two years ago, we visited again and were able to celebrate the planting of 48,000 argan trees. Here we are with Stefan, Simo, and Musafa and one of those argan saplings. On each visit we’ve been welcomed with song and dance by the cooperative women. With the project I’m detailing here, we are taking the next much bolder step.
Help a women-led cooperative in Morocco create an argan farm that they will own and run.
David plants argan sapling in 2016
Story
We’re raising $84,000 to help a women-led cooperative in southern Morocco turn 13 acres of empty farmland into an argan and cactus farm that they will own and run.
I’m David Gordon co-founder CEO of evanhealy. Since 2009 I’ve worked alongside Stefan Hauke, World Artisan Guild’s founder, and Mohamed El Karz (Simo), the civil and environmental engineer founder of Argand’Or Co. in Morocco. When Stefan and Simo told me about this project, I knew I wanted to help get it off the ground. I first visited the cooperatives in Morocco with them in 2016 and again most recently in 2024. I have seen firsthand the pride, determination, and hard work of the cooperative women in search of dignity and self-sufficiency. I also know the incredibly high quality of the argan oil we have purchased from them for the last 17 years.
Why this matters
Southern Morocco’s argan ecosystem is deteriorating under pressure from deforestation, soil desertification, and overharvesting. At the same time, women—traditionally the custodians of argan oil production—are losing access to fruit as commercial traders with deep capital buy entire harvests in advance. That means the work that has been one of the few steady sources of income for women in rural villages is at risk. This project offers a regenerative solution: restore the argan forest while empowering women as the rightful stewards and beneficiaries of its renewal.
Argan saplings ready to be planted
What we’re doing
Dahab Sahara is the newly established women’s cooperative created specifically to pioneer this regenerative model. The cooperative will manage early planting, land care, and intercropping activities, supported by technical guidance from Argand’Or Co. and public partners.
Two plots of resting farmland will be secured upon which we will:
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⚘ Plant 1,830 argan trees and 1,920 prickly pear cactus plants
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𓃘 Raise 100 hens and 4 dairy goats and grow alfalfa, so the cooperative earns money from eggs, milk, and feed while the trees grow
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🌢 Install water-saving drip irrigation, powered by an existing solar-run well
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❀ Own and run it themselves. The harvest and the income stay with the women and their community.
The first cactus fruit harvest is expected at the end of year one, and the first argan harvest around year five. From its first year, the farm is projected to earn a profit with profits growing as the trees mature. That means your gift starts something that can keep going on its own.
The first step toward one million trees
This farm is the pilot for a five-year plan to plant one million argan trees across Morocco’s UNESCO Argan Biosphere Reserve. Morocco’s national argan agency (ANDZOA) and its agricultural development and advisory agencies (ADA and ONCA) back the project. Argand’Or Co., led by civil and environmental engineer Mohamed El Karz, manages it on the ground.
Argan farm with saplings
Where your money goes
Drip irrigation and water filtration $35,600
Argan seedlings and planting $21,500
Soil preparation and organic fertilizer $7,900
Fencing to protect the young trees $6,300
Goats, hens, and a small barn $6,000
Equipment and transport $1,800
Cactus plants $1,900
GoFundMe (2.9%) $2,349
Total $83,349
How the money gets there
Funds raised here are paid to World Artisan Guild LLC, run by Stefan Hauke here in the US. In turn World Artisan Guild sends the money directly to Argand’Or Co. Stefan and I have worked with Argand’Or, the Moroccan firm run by Mohamed El Karz who is managing this project, for 15-20 years. It is Argand’Or who has set up the whole project on the ground in Morocco and who purchases the saplings, irrigation, fencing, and livestock and so on. To support project coordination, reporting, logistics, and operational management, Argand’Or will retain a ten percent administrative overhead, consistent with UN and international NGO norms. This covers essential costs such as project management, consulting engineers, travel, compliance, and other operational needs.
We will post receipts and photos as each part of the budget is spent. GoFundMe takes a 2.9% fee. Donations are not tax-deductible.
The evanhealy team with Stefan (upper left) and Simo (upper right) and Musafa (bottom right)
Follow along
We’ll post photos and updates from planting day, the first harvests, and the cooperative as it grows.
Can’t give right now? Sharing this page helps just as much.
Thank you for helping these trees, and these women, put down roots. ❤
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