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Scattered across Morocco’s mountains and deserts, tens of thousands of families live in challenging conditions — unreliable clean water supply, limited income sources, declining soil fertility, and few resources for women and youth. Decades of marginalization have limited opportunities and forced many to leave their ancestral villages in search of livelihood.
Morocco stands at a unique crossroads. Rising climate pressures (droughts, erosion, desertification) threaten to further uproot rural life, while the recent Al Haouz earthquake in the High Atlas damaged infrastructure, adding to the region’s vulnerability.
If we fail to act now, these communities risk more outmigration, eroded cultural heritage, and entrenched gender inequality.
But there is hope — fueled by action. A potential bright future exists: farmers moving toward profitable fruit tree agriculture, women launching cooperatives, communities uniting across religious lines, and carbon credits that could sustain local economies long-term.
For over two decades the The High Atlas Foundation (HAF) has cultivated a grassroots model that can turn vulnerability into opportunity. Scaling this model depends on adding additional resources and building more partnerships right now.
Join us in creating a Morocco where every community thrives from the ground up, empowered with sustainable livelihoods, equitable opportunities, and unity across cultural lines.
We focus on community-centered, holistic development programs that equip Moroccan communities to become self-sustaining.
Our most widely-recognized projects integrate agriculture with irrigation, clean water, sanitation, and education. They result in women’s empowerment and communities with dependable food and income sources, green job opportunities for rural women and youth, and a pathway to the voluntary carbon market.
Recovery from the September 2023 Al Haouz earthquake requires the ongoing need for the essentials — food, water, and hygiene supplies (including diapers). Shelter needs require immediate solutions. It will take years of recovery to rebuild villages, restore sheep, goat, and cow livestock populations, recover seeds for agriculture, and reconstruct and expand water infrastructure.
Access to water for drinking and irrigation is the most important issue for Moroccan communities, emerging as the highest priority in almost every discussion surrounding community needs.
By accessing new water sources and building water containment and delivery systems, we’re able to immediately improve infant mortality rates, increase girls’ participation in education, and expand agricultural production in areas most heavily affected by drought.
In the 2022-23 season alone, the High Atlas Foundation supported the planting of 1,100,000 trees, benefitting 5,500 farming families. Click on any location to explore a specific project.
Single and ongoing donations are incredibly effective ways to support our work. If you’re looking for additional ways to get involved, we invite you to explore specific projects below.
We invite you to join us: Plant seeds of change that will bear fruit for generations — restoring land, uplifting women, preserving heritage, and forging a self-reliant Morocco. Please contact us to discuss how you can support our programs.
