The Youth Potion of Agadir
Date: 08/28/2007
This may look like goats in a tree to you…but this is in fact a highly sophisticated beauty-products factory…
I didn't believe goats could climb trees…until I saw it for myself: half a dozen of them, some quite high, silhouetted against the misty clouds in the sky.
The goats climb the trees to get the argan fruit (similar to an olive); there is no grass to eat in this desert climate.
Inside the argan is a kernel which the goat cannot digest. The kernel passes through the goat whole, and is collected for cleaning. Believe it or not, these kernels are ground and pressed to yield oil that is turned into cooking oil and face creams, prized for their Omega 6 and vitamin E content, and anti-inflammatory properties.
The argan is known locally as the Tree of Life. As well as supplying animal fodder and beneficial oil, it has also been the available source of wood for building structures and making furniture and ornaments.
But the popularity of the Tree of Life means that the numbers of argan trees have declined to dangerously low numbers. Now, the main argan forest area in south west Morocco is a Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site.
Oil extraction continues, but through quicker, modern methods, and with a regeneration plan that will mean the Tree of Life will continue to produce oil exports for the locals…and food for the goats.
You can find more information about argan oil on http://www.wildwoodgroves.com/news.htm
Jean Knill
For International Living
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