20 Sep 2010

MOROCCO / POVERTY RELIEF

A group of women in Morocco start an innovative business turning cactus into food. The business is part of nationwide project aimed at helping poor people live better through small businesses. WORLD BANK

Posted at: September 20, 2010 1:45 pm

Duration: 02:02

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: MOROCCO / POVERTY RELIEF 
TRT: 2:02
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: JUNE 2010, RHAMNA, MOROCCO

SHOTLIST:

RHAMNA, MOROCCO, JUNE 2010

1. Zoom out, cactus field
2. Close up, picking cactus
3. Med shot, women cleaning cactus
4. Tilt up, women cleaning cactus
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zahra Buhasoun, Cactus Cooperative:
"When I started working here our situation improved.   It is as if the clouds are gone and the sun has come out, it is not like before, thanks to the project and cooperative."
6. Close up, cactus cutting
7. Zoom out, woman picking cactus
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Hafida Filahi, Third Millennium Association:
"We help them to organize themselves into cooperatives, and there are now women cooperatives making money with handicrafts, poultry, goats, olives, honey, and here with the cactus!"
9. Zoom out, woman picking cactus
10. Med shot, woman carrying container of cut cactus, walking
11. Med shot, women cutting up cactus
12. Close up, cleaning cactus leave
13. SOUNDBITE (French) Elkhatabi AbdelAziz, Rhamna Social Action:
"Under the initiative, we gather the people and ask them what possible projects exist in their area and what they would like to do and so we create income earning activities that allow the people to stay in their villages and provide for their families."
14. Close up, woman with cactus products
15. Tilt up, woman picking up cactus oil and explaining
16. Tilt down, Fatna cleaning cactus
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fatna Halim, Cactus Cooperative:
"Now I buy what I need and I save a bit and help my parents."
18. Zoom out, Fatna's and another woman cleaning cactus

STORYLINE:

Cactus in Morocco has long been known for its sweet fruit, but turning the plant into a booming business is something these women have just recently learned.

They are members of the "Rahamna Cactus Cooperative," an organization putting women in charge of a now lucrative cactus-based business.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zahra Buhasoun, Cactus Cooperative:
"When I started working here our situation improved.   It is as if the clouds are gone and the sun has come out, it is not like before, thanks to the project and cooperative."
The Women's Cactus Cooperative benefits from a government project which promotes small business among the country's vulnerable groups, in this case rural women.  The businesses are creating economic stability in villages by providing jobs.

SOUNDBITE (French) Hafida Filahi, Third Millennium Association:
"We help them to organize themselves into cooperatives, and there are now women cooperatives making money with handicrafts, poultry, goats, olives, honey, and here with the cactus."

The cooperatives and income generating activities are part of the country's larger "Initiative for Human Development," supported with World Bank funds.

SOUNDBITE (French) Elkhatabi AbdelAziz, Rhamna Social Action:

"Under the initiative, we gather the people and ask them what possible projects exist in their area and what they would like to do and so we create income earning activities that allow the people to stay in their villages and provide for their families."

The women at the Cactus Cooperative have learned to make and market a multiple array of cactus- based products, including jam, juice, tea, beauty oil and pickles.

Fatna Halim says she didn't have a job before joining the women's Cactus Cooperative, where she's paid to cut up the leaves for pickles.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fatna Halim, Cactus Cooperative:

"Now I buy what I need and I save a bit and help my parents."

She says being part of the cactus cooperative has given her a steady income and economic independence.

Filed under 02.02.00 - ECONOMIC CONDITIONS,12.01.00 MOROCCO WORLD BANK.