Irrigation Systems for Fruit Trees in Africa

The High Atlas Foundation secured organic certification with 23 villages of the Toubkal municipality, located in the province of Taroudant, on the south side of the High Atlas Mountains. This certification is for a 200 hectare area of walnuts and a 100 hectare area of almonds. It involved 693 farming families and is the first to have been secured for any product and in any part of the mountain region. Having vastly expanded the supply of walnut and almond product in the municipality through the planting of tree nurseries and with the increased value of the product enabled by organic certification, water-efficiency will create the opportunity to significantly expand the amount of arable land. 

The Ouray irrigation project, which will profoundly benefit 14 of the 23 villages, has been identified by the local people as their top priority initiative. The project diverts the water of a spring located 3,000 meters above the villages, along the summit of a mountain range. This will enable the building of new agricultural terraces on the entire face of the mountainside. Currently, the water from the spring produces 70 liters per second and goes straight down the mountain and into a river. The management of the water amongst the benefiting 14 villages, which includes approximately 3,500 people, has been agreed upon in recent months, has been a challenging yet productive process. 

We hope that you write to us for more information about this irrigation project which, combined with nurseries, organic certification, and the value-added processing facility, will create an agricultural boon for the region and a model for the nation. 

For more information, please contact yossef@highatlasfoundation.org