Partner name:            Anbdour & Imi n’tizghte Association pour le Développement et Coopérativité (AIDECO)

Title of placement:     Construction, renovation and expansion of local irrigation and agricultural infrastructure

Location:                    Morocco

Start date:                  1^st September 2009

Duration:                    3 months

No. of volunteers:      2

A 3 month placement to increase the  agricultural productivity in the villages of Anbdour and Imi n’tizghte and provide a model for development in the other villages of the Ammeln valley.   

What work will I be doing?

This placement encompasses various activities that all contribute to greater agricultural output and ultimately aim to decrease the dependence of the villages on remittances from relatives working outside of the area.  The volunteers will continue the work started by previous EWB-UK volunteers in 2008 to construct boar fences that will protect the agricultural fields from boar attacks. This includes agreeing fence materials and possibly overseeing construction.  A maintenance strategy for the fence will also be developed. 

Secondly, further work is required to the system of water channels (khettaras and saguias) that provides water from aquifers to the farmland.  Again, based on previous work carried out by EWB-UK volunteers, the volunteers will oversee construction if possible and detail a maintenance programme.  The impact of the maintenance performed so far is to be measured. 

Thirdly, the volunteers will investigate the contamination of the irrigation water by soap suds from laundry washing. 

Finally, the volunteers are to work on regenerating a plot of abandoned land into a new plantation that will protect the soil from erosion and desertification.  Surveying of the land will be needed for this activity.  The volunteers are to ensure that all work is evaluated for further future implementation in neighbouring villages.   

Who will I be working for?

AIDECO’s mission is to contribute to socio-economic development, to encourage local populations to shape their own futures, to promote literacy and to preserve the environment.  They have opened social centres that provide reading and writing classes, IT classes, and workshops to train manual labour and artisans.  They have also started the cooperative Al Baraka, which produces Argan oil.  AIDECO also promotes tourism in the Ammeln valley.  It employs two paid staff.  The volunteers would interface with the General Secretary of AIDECO and will be supervised by an engineer from the Local Department of Agriculture.   

What skills or experience do I need?

REQUIRED:

• Fluency in French
• Civil engineering, agronomy or agricultural engineering degree

• Basic Arabic