Morocco

Our impact

Context

In Morocco, Socodevi works in vulnerable rural regions where natural resources—particularly cedar forests and the rosemary value chain—play a central role in local economies, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation. However, forest co-operatives often remain weakly structured, with limited access to equipment, financing, and markets. Rural women face significant barriers to empowerment: limited access to productive factors, sociocultural constraints that restrict their participation in decision-making, illiteracy, and low representation in governance bodies. In the Middle Atlas, climate pressure and water stress further increase the fragility of ecosystems and livelihoods, making nature-based solutions and improved inclusive governance of forest resources a priority.

Objectives and expected results

  • Strengthen the socio-economic empowerment of rural women, especially young women, by building their technical, organizational and leadership skills.
  • Increase women’s participation in decision-making processes within households and co-operatives and improve their access to and control over productive resources.
  • Strengthen the performance and professionalization of forest co-operatives (governance, administrative/financial management, tools, business plans, access to finance).
  • Support the creation of decent and sustainable jobs, particularly for women, through the sustainable valorization of rosemary and cedar.
  • Strengthen production and post-harvest practices in forest value chains (rosemary/cedar) and support quality improvement (protocols, controls, organic certification).
  • Expand market access by consolidating durable and structured commercial relationships between co-operatives and national industrial buyers.
  • Promote environmental sustainability through the adoption of good forest practices and the deployment of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to restore and conserve cedar forests.
  • Strengthen inclusive governance of forest ecosystems in Khénifra National Park, in support of community climate adaptation.
  • Strengthen the capacities of public institutions and stakeholders (ANEF, ODF, etc.) to support a sustainable, inclusive and resilient co-operative development model.

Sectors of activity

  • Women’s economic empowerment and gender equality (leadership, participation, literacy, awareness-raising)
  • Co-operative development and organizational strengthening (PerformCoop, inclusive governance, management, tools)
  • Forest value chains (rosemary, cedar): sustainable management, production, post-harvest, processing, certification, quality
  • Environment, biodiversity and climate change adaptation (NbS, restoration/conservation, environmental education)
  • Local economic development: market access, commercial linkages, valorization of non-timber forest products (NTFPs)
  • Institutional strengthening and public partnerships (ANEF, ODF, ODCO, ministries)
  • Human rights and inclusion (decent jobs, equitable participation, local governance)

Results and impacts

Women’s empowerment and leadership

  • FERMA: 225 women trained in climate leadership; 112 women trained in financial literacy
  • COOPFAM: 299 women trained in leadership; 241 women became literate; 83% of women participate in household economic decision-making

Structuring and governance

  • FERMA: 23 co-operative diagnostics; 26 individualized support plans; 51 leaders trained
  • COOPFAM: 19 co-operatives and 3 unions use PerformCoop; 7 gender committees created; 4 gender action plans implemented

Economic and environmental performance

  • COOPFAM: 1,737 jobs created; 432 members trained in environmental practices; climate practices adopted by 60% of women and 77% of men
  • FERMA: 140 women and young women gained access to improved commercial opportunities

Awareness-raising and advocacy

  • FERMA: 1,315 people sensitized to NbS (conservation of ecosystems in Khénifra National Park); advocacy campaigns on climate and environmental rights aiming to reach 20,000 people (target not yet achieved)
  • COOPFAM: establishment of consultation mechanisms and gender advocacy

Innovations

  • FERMA: Waterboxx technology for participatory reforestation
  • COOPFAM: women’s consultation platforms, integration of renewable energy, cross-training between ANEF and cooperatives

Testimonials

“At the beginning, I didn’t know and I was afraid; I didn’t dare speak or stand up. But now, thank God, I can stand up and speak, and I can be resilient like a rural woman—doing all the tasks and managing everything. I no longer feel fear, thanks to what we have gained. I was able to stand up and rely on myself. After benefiting from the farmer field schools, I now dare and I can speak; they opened my eyes like never before.”

  • Mouhou Zahra
    Member of the Tawmat co-operative

“We had some knowledge, but also some ignorance; they helped us understand and raised our awareness. We thank them from Outat El Haj (Boulemane Province, Fès-Meknès region), Errouyanna all the way to Canada. They taught us how to cut rosemary, how to dry it in the shade, and how to handle it. Through their farmer field school training, they gave us self-confidence. Literacy classes benefited everyone who needed them, giving us confidence in ourselves, thank God. We are grateful for the bees, the training on rosemary harvesting, and the regular visits to encourage and guide us. They gave us the strength to move forward as women so that we are not overlooked.”

  • Yamna Chnafi
    Member of the Errouyana co-operative

Projects in Morocco

FERMA

Through an integrated approach to forest ecosystem management, the Resilient Women in the Middle Atlas (FERMA) project, implemented by Socodevi, operates in the Khenifra National Park region in Morocco. It supports 25 women’s co-operatives to strengthen their resilience to climate change and promote sustainable local development.
  • Funded by:
    Global Affairs Canada
Learn more

Partners

Funders and co-financiers

  • Funder: Global Affairs Canada

Contact

Morocco Office
Centre de recherche forestière – Département des Eaux et Forêts
Avenue Omar Ibn Al Khattab
Agdal, Rabat

Countries where we work

Philippines

In the Philippines, the coffee sector faces declining production, high climate vulnerability, and limited structuring of producer organizations. Aging plantations, a lack of technical expertise, and competition from less sustainable alternative crops weaken the livelihoods of rural families—most of them Indigenous—and limit women’s participation in governance. In the target areas (the Cordillera and Nueva Vizcaya), […]

  • Funded by:
    Global Affairs Canada
Learn more

Mali

Mali is a historic country of intervention for Socodevi, with an active presence in the country’s main agricultural regions. Projects focus on the socio-economic empowerment of rural women, climate resilience, the development of agricultural co-operatives, food security, and improved access to health services and agricultural insurance.

  • Funded by:
    Global Affairs Canada
Learn more

Niger

In Niger, Socodevi has been working for over a decade to strengthen food security, women’s empowerment, and climate resilience. Interventions cover Tahoua, Niamey, Agadez, and six other rural regions, in partnership with national and international institutions. Projects aim to improve access to resources, food security, gender equality, and communities’ adaptive capacity in the face of […]

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