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Booming Markets for Moroccan Argan Oil Appear to Benefit Some Rural Households While Threatening the Endemic Argan Forest
Citation:
Lybbert, T. J., A. Aboudrare, D. J. CHALOUD, N. Magnan, AND M. S. NASH. Booming Markets for Moroccan Argan Oil Appear to Benefit Some Rural Households While Threatening the Endemic Argan Forest . Christopher Barrett (ed.), PNAS (PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES). National Academy of Sciences, WASHINGTON, DC, 108(34):13963-13968, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
At $300 per liter or more, argan oil is currently the world’s most expensive edible oil. For cosmetic uses, it is even pricier and is the subject of several US and European cosmetic patents. The oil, which has been a mainstay for Berbers in southwestern Morocco for centuries, was propelled out of obscurity in the 1990s by favorable findings about its culinary, cosmetic and even medicinal virtues. Since 1999, rapidly appreciating prices in high value argan markets have sparked a bonanza of argan activity. NGOs, international and domestic development agencies, and argan oil cooperatives have played a central role in this bonanza with the dual aim of benefiting locals and thereby inciting local conservation investments to protect the endemic argan tree, which is as unique and rare as the oil derived from the nuts it produces. As evidence of its ecological uniqueness, the argan forest was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1998. Win‐win claims of rural development and biodiversity conservation now appear on virtually every argan product label and have been showcased widely by media outlets worldwide. In this paper, we review research efforts to test these claims by assessing local impacts on rural households and on the forest. Using these local impacts as a point of departure, we scale up the analysis spatially in order to evaluate landscape‐level impacts. We then broaden the temporal scope of analysis by exploring the key dynamics between locals, the forest, the market, and institutional change.
Description:
Morocco’s argan oil is now the most expensive edible oil in the world. High value argan markets have sparked a bonanza of argan activity. NGOs, international and domestic development agencies, and argan oil cooperatives have promoted the win‐win aim of simultaneously benefiting local people and the argan forest. This paper tests these win‐win claims. Analysis of a panel of detailed household data suggests that the boom has enabled some rural households to increase consumption, increase their goat herds (which bodes poorly for the argan forest), and send their girls to secondary school. The boom has predictably made households vigilant guardians of fruit on the tree, but has not incited investments in longer term tree and forest health. We evaluate landscape‐level impacts of these changes using commune‐level data on educational enrollment and 8 km2 NDVI data over the period 1980‐2009. The results of the meso‐analysis of enrollment are consistent with the micro‐analysis: the argan boom seems to have improved educational outcomes, especially for girls. Our NDVI analysis, however, suggests that the impact of booming argan prices on the forest may be negative. We conclude by exploring the dynamic interactions between argan markets, local institutions, rural household welfare, and forest conservation and sustainability.
URLs/Downloads:
NASH 10-077 FINAL JOURNAL ARTICLE..PDF (PDF, NA pp, 989 KB, about PDF)Booming Markets for Moroccan Argan Oil Appear to Benefit Some Rural Households While Threatening the Endemic Argan Forest
