Maghreb rural development associations create new co-operation network

2008-04-24

Rural development groups from across the Maghreb agreed this month in Tunisia that the best way to see their goals realised is to join forces and create a new network.

By Imane Belhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca – 24/04/08

[File] A network of associations from Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria and Tunis plans to establish rural development partnerships and projects across the Maghreb.

Representatives of forty local development associations in Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia who gathered for a three-day forum earlier this month in Medenine, Tunisia are now finalising a new Maghreb co-operative network to enhance rural development and uplift the living standards of desert dwellers.

Attendees at the March 31st-April 2nd seminar hosted by the Sustainable Development Association (ADD) of Beni Khedache also included 20 Spanish, French and Italian groups which, as part of the European Union's LEADER initiative, work to promote the active involvement of local communities in the development of rural areas.

Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria will each have 10 associations in the new network, while Mauritania will have two. Libya turned down the invitation to attend the Medenine meeting but pledged to join in later.

According to a press release from host organisation ADD, the network's primary goal is to propagate a spirit of collaboration among rural communities and set up association partnerships to realise objectives, build capacities and develop human resources.

ADD President Abdulhamid Zammouri added that the network will enable associations throughout the Maghreb to "help each other and get necessary means to implement their activities".

"The second operational objective," Zammouri continued, "is to organise and support North-South co-operation from rural area to rural area, similar to the transnational co-operation already in place for the EU's local action (LEADER) programme in Europe".

Speaking with Magharebia on April 21st, network vice-president Omar Chibane, head of the Adrar Association in Morocco, said the network aims at exchanging expertise on problems shared by rural Maghreb communities, offering collective development programmes to benefit targeted provinces, enhancing scientific research in fields of local development and combating desertification.

"The work of the network is promising", Chibane noted, '"in terms of consolidating the efforts of involved associations". He added, however, that "those efforts vary depending on the growth rates of those associations within the countries where they are located".

Chibane ranked Morocco as the leading North African state in collective efforts, in terms of numbers and experience, while also appreciating the size and presence of rural associations in Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania.

He added that the work of the associations would benefit from Maghreb countries opening up to civil society, allowing them to reach the target population and attain advanced levels of sustained local development.

For smoother collaboration between associations in several countries and to bolster scientific research, seminar participants recommended setting up five R&D institutes: Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan II (Morocco); Desert Studies Centre, Nouakchott University (Mauritania); Montpellier Mediterranean Agricultural Institute (France); Algerian Agricultural Institute, and Medenine Arid Regions Institute (Tunisia).