Final Project: Priscila Garcia

Topic: Are there urban farms in Morocco? What do they look like? What are the                                       benefits of urban farming?

"The ladies at the urban garden call me little-Mustafa-farmer. I go check on my squash four times a week to make sure that there are no bugs eating them. This squash is my favorite one because it was the first one that I planted. I did not know much about growing plants but thankfully Lala-Aicha was there to teach me how to water and take good care of my squash. I really like Lala-Aicha because she is way older than me and has a lot of stories that she tells me when we water out plants with the recycled water. I don't think I would have ever talked to her if it wasn't for the farm. I was surprised when I was riding my bike around the city one day and found this piece of land where a lot of people plant different vegetables. On my street we have large pots with flowers and little plants that all the neighbors water and take care of, but I have never seen vegetable being grown before. Lala-Aicha told me that this large garden is important because it is helping the weather and water in our city and helping poor people. I am really happy that this urban farm is in my city because that means that people that do not have a lot of money can plant their own food and at least have a few carrots to eat. I think it is cool that heaven is like a paradise with many beautiful trees, flowers, and lots of water. If we have also have gardens in heaven, I want to be the one in charge of squashes."

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Morocco is a North African country that borders the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and it has a population of approximately 35,233,642 people. The growth rate of Morocco is 1.04% annually and that has been increasing for the past few decades ("Morocco Population 2017"). One of the challenges that Morocco’s agriculture production faces is water scarcity, which is a direct effect of the country’s climate. Because water scarcity is such an issue, the government decided to come up with a solution for it. As a solution, the government proposed an irrigation system which is part of Morocco’s Green Plan. The Green Plan’s main focus is on the productivity and exportation of agricultural products in Morocco ("Growing Morocco's Agricultural Potential”). Another solution to Morocco’s climate/water issue that could be implemented into the Green Plan is the utilization of urban gardens in large cities. Casablanca, one of Morocco’s largest cities, contains about 300,000 residents and has an on and off project of having an urban garden.  Agriculture can play a determining role in sustainable, climate-optimized urban development, and Urban Agriculture Casablanca has been a perfect example of that. Casablanca’s urban garden was a program created by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Urban Agriculture Casablanca was running for nine years; there was a three-year preliminary project phase (07/2005 – 03/2008), a main project phase for five years (04/2008 – 03/2013) and a one-year prolongation phase (04/2013-03/2014). This project served many purposes such as connecting the rural and urban parts of Casablanca, improving the climate, and decreasing food insecurity. Connecting urban and rural areas is a very important action in Morocco because there is a very noticeable distinction between these areas. Due to urban agriculture benefiting the climate of both the rural and urban areas, the water scarcity of the town decreased; not only the climate helped with this, but the people began to reuse water more as well. Also, because this urban garden was in a regional area and provided many people with more food, people of many ages and places in Casablanca were able to collaborate in this project. Socially speaking, it was very beneficial for so many people to be given the opportunity to benefit not only their country but their family’s as well.

While the Urban Agriculture Casablanca website contains helpful information about this project, it is only able to provide some information; this is because there is a book on the project that contains most information about it ("Urban Agriculture as an Integrative Factor of Climate-Optimized Urban Development, Casablanca"). Although it is written in Spanish, "Jardines de Marruecos,” is an informative article about the differences in urban gardening in different cultures. The article claimed the urban gardening known in western world is very different from what people in Morocco believe urban gardens to be. In the western world, most urban gardens are in places that are reserved to be used for agricultural purposes only. In Morocco, many people see urban gardening as just having large pots outside of their houses and alongside of the streets. The houses in Morocco are very close to each other, so the plants that are along the streets become everybody’s plants. One of the most famous plants to grow are forestall trees which are admired for their beauty and their aroma. Some other popular plants are basil, lavender, mint and verbena. Interestingly, the values of gardens in Africa actually comes from their religion Islam. Islam portrays heaven as a paradise that resembles a large garden of beautiful trees, flowers, and water masses. Moroccan people do not always grow their food to eat it (with the exception of some of course such as the one in Casablanca mentioned above) but rather grow plants with aromas as well as flowers. With this being said, there are slightly different variations of urban gardens and one special type of urban gardening takes place in Morocco.

Works Cited:

A PDF summary of "Urban Agriculture as an Integrative Factor of Climate-Optimized Urban Development, Casablanca" found in http://future-megacities.org/fileadmin/documents/forschungsergebnisse/aktuell/CAS-AB2.pdf

Bonells, José Elias. "Jardines de Marruecos." Jardines sin fronteras. N.p., 14 Feb. 2017. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

"Future Megacities – Urban Agriculture in Casablanca, Morocco." Deutschland Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.iI

"Growing Morocco's Agricultural Potential." World Bank. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

"Morocco Population 2017." Morocco Population (2017) - World Population Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

"Urban Agriculture as an Integrative Factor of Climate-Optimized Urban Development, Casablanca." Urban Agriculture Casablanca: Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.