Headquartered in Morocco, the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) (; Tamazight: ⵜⴰⵎⵔⵙⵍⵜ ⵏ ⵡⴰⵟⵍⴰⵙ ⴰⵎⵇⵇⵔⴰⵏ) is a nonprofit organization that promotes community-designed initiatives for sustainable agriculture, women’s and youth empowerment, education, health, and capacity-building in Morocco.
Founded in 2000 by former Peace Corps volunteers, HAF is an American and Moroccan team that works in partnership with government and non-government agencies. HAF has held consultancy status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2011.
History HAF was founded by Yossef Ben-Meir and other former Peace Corps volunteers in 2000 and began implementing projects in Morocco in 2003. Ben-Meir serves as President and oversees an international Board of Directors.
HAF received its first project funds from then-U.S. Ambassador to Morocco, Margaret D. Tutwiler, in 2003, to begin planting organic fruit trees as cash crops for disadvantaged local communities and to help stop soil erosion with the participation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other agriculture experts. The project set a precedent for Embassy discretionary funding from which HAF benefited further in later years. By 2014, HAF had planted one million fruit-bearing trees for the benefit of local communities, and went on to launch its "one billion tree campaign", planting 10,000 trees in eight Moroccan provinces in a single day toward addressing rural poverty, deforestation and soil erosion.“Morocco, the High Atlas Foundation.” FoodTank. February 2014. foodtank.com/news/2014/02/morocco-the-high-atlas-foundation/. HAF hosts an annual nationwide tree-planting event in Morocco on the third Thursday of January in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.“High Atlas Foundation Announce Annual Day of Tree Planting.” Blue and Green Tomorrow. 11 January 2017. blueandgreentomorrow.com/news/high-atlas-foundation-announce-annual-day-tree-planting/. By 2016, the organization was able to plant one-two million fruit seeds and saplings annually in 15 Moroccan provinces.
Since 2008, HAF has held partnerships with national and international agencies and institutions through the support of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Hassan II University, the High Commission of Waters and Forests, the Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP), and more. Through its partnerships, HAF trains facilitators in the participatory approach to community development, facilitates design of priority local projects, and supports implementation of those projects in fruit tree agriculture, clean drinking water, women and youth enterprises, and technical and managerial workshops. University students from Morocco and abroad volunteer with HAF to help plant trees and bring clean drinking water to remote villages through these partnerships.
Starting in 2011, HAF has held special Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Through this access, HAF has participated in shaping the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and negotiations on climate change relevant to both development and the environment in Morocco and, in 2013, participated in the Sixth Session of the United Nations General Assembly Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, outlining how these can be implemented and achieved with global partners while also highlighting the challenges of countries in similar situations. HAF was represented at the United Nations Youth Climate Summit in New York City in 2019 for young leaders driving climate change solutions.
HAF was the SEED Africa award winner in sustainable agriculture in 2013 for helping the Moroccan farmers certify and sell organic walnuts and almonds produced in the High Atlas Mountains. All profits after cost were reinvested into community projects promoting entrepreneurship and fruit and nut tree growth through training and instruction.
A 2017–2018 HAF-sponsored assessment of crop biodiversity in Morocco uncovered the loss of local crop varieties and genotypes. In response to the immediate need to preserve local crops, their wild relatives, and wild medicinal plants, HAF worked toward the creation of a Seed Bank. The number of nurseries and number of seeds planted, and tree saplings delivered and planted increased significantly in 2018 with four new nurseries through HAF’s partnership with Morocco’s High Commission of Water and Forests and Ecosia, a social business based in Berlin.
In partnership with the U.S. Department of State and the Rural Family Society, HAF supported the project Realizing Sustainable Agriculture through Methods for Irrigation and Agriculture (MIRRA) in Azraq, Jordan, in 2019–2020, providing an integrated sustainable packaged solution to the challenges faced by farmers there: depletion and salinization of groundwater, salinization of soil, climate change, increased desertification, wetland loss, and decreased production of livestock.
HAF partnered with the University of Central Florida (Orlando) and The Hollings Center for International Dialogue (Washington, DC) in 2019 to conduct field work in the High Atlas Mountains that revealed the role of civil society in achieving the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (2015) for eliminating poverty, conserving forests, and addressing climate change. HAF has also helped the indigenous Amazigh people organize into local collectives, cooperatives, and associations to achieve those goals, especially as it pertains to water and drought.
The December 2019 issue of Consumer Reports included HAF on its list of "Most Effective Charities" being rated among the most highly impactful.Wang, Penelope. “Best Alternative Charities for Your Donations.” Consumer Reports. 12 December 2019. https://www.consumerreports.org/charities/best-alternative-charities-for-your-donations/.
HAF opened its twelfth tree nursery near Ouarzazate, Morocco, in 2020 as part of its House of Life project, growing almond, walnut, cherry, fig, pomegranate, and carob, and donating the majority of the early trees to 5,000 farming families and 2,000 public schools.Pantelick, Nicolas. “Hope Growing in the Cradle of the Diaspora.” Media for Freedom. 11 April 2020. mediaforfreedom.com/content/hope-growing-cradle-diaspora.
HAF further expanded its reach in 2021–2022 with more nurseries and projects in multiple additional Moroccan regions, and by 2023 was able to annually plant and distribute millions of trees with tens of thousands of farmers and hundreds of schools. Farming families benefit directly from receiving trees that increase their agricultural revenue and pay for their children's schooling materials and transportation costs.
In response to the September 2023 earthquake in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains, HAF added to its community project implementation activities to provide urgently needed food, water, shelter, and supplies to those who lost their homes, and it implemented restoration and new water infrastructure projects for both drinking and irrigation. Content for its empowerment workshops was adjusted to provide for psycho-social well-being of those who were traumatized by the destruction.
Programs Agriculture HAF works with Moroccan communities to plant fruit trees of different varieties, including carob, walnut, pomegranate, cherry, fig, argan, date palm, and certified organic walnuts and almonds among others, while facilitating entrepreneurship and training for local farmers. After covering production costs, proceeds are reinvested in community projects that reduce chemical pesticide use through organic farming practices and capture hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide each year.SEED Programs and Enterprises. HAF maintains nurseries all over Morocco, and for spreading the variety of seeds and trees around the nation, it has been called the "Johnny Appleseed of Morocco".
Women's empowerment Moroccan women plan and implement development projects through HAF's "Imagine" workshops for empowerment, blending self-discovery activities with building women’s cooperatives. They identify and design projects that directly involve and benefit them, build feelings of self-worth, and recognize their right to socio-economic growth. HAF-supported women’s cooperatives develop value-added products that fund schools and other services in their communities, creating more stable local economies through community ownership.
Due to rural women's lack of educational opportunities and illiteracy, information access, and awareness of the rights granted them in the Moudawana (the Moroccan family code law ratified in 2004), HAF integrated a Rights-Based Approach (RBA) into the women’s empowerment training. HAF implemented a Family Literacy program for nearly 1,000 women and their preschool-age children in two Moroccan regions from 2021–2023 through funding from the European Commission.
Youth HAF's "Safe Space" meetings allow youth to identify and implement projects that directly impact their needs as a response to their high unemployment and low political participation. HAF’s Oummat Salaam Initiative provides mentorship and agricultural skills-building for unemployed youth and youth inmates, with integration exercises for participation in community development.
Water HAF raises funding for regional initiatives that deliver clean drinking water to remote villages in Morocco, creating jobs and protecting the environment.“Giving Beauty.” Kahina. 2020. kahina-givingbeauty.com/kahina-giving-beauty/. HAF has coordinated the efforts of international programs and local suppliers to construct pipeline systems, solar-energy pumps, and water tanks where needed so that women and children do not have to walk great distances daily for access to water for drinking, cooking, washing, and subsistence farming.Borealis AG staff writers. “Providing life-changing safe water supply to rural villages.” Water for the World. October 2019. https://www.waterfortheworld.net/projects/providing-life-changing-safe-water-supply-to-rural-villages-in-morocco.
Capacity-building HAF facilitates capacity-building in Moroccan communities through participatory planning, project management, and adaptive management of natural resources.Arab.org, The Olive Tree S.A.L. HAF fosters capacity-building skills, involving villagers in every phase, entrusting them with decision-making authority to become agents of change, and promoting gender parity for women and girls.Shared Nation.Opfer. “Effective Practices.”Eger, Claudia, Graham Miller, and Caroline Scarles. “Gender and capacity building: a multi-layered study of empowerment.” World Development, vol. 106, June 2018, pages 207-219.
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