The Anbdour and Imin’tizeght Association for Development and Cooperation (AIDECO) is an association that was created in the village of Imin’tizeght/ Anbdour near Tafraout city in the province of Tiznit in 2000. AIDECO’s aim is threefold: contributing to the human and socio-economic development of the region, creating a territorial dynamic and serving as its force, and prompting the local population to be an active agent in shaping its own future.

To attain these aims, the association recurrently sets forth new objectives for itself, centering upon responding to the various problems facing the populations of the region and participating in initiatives that target the development and improvement of the standard of living. These objective include: Assisting populations in accomplishing local initiatives, developing the skills, knowledge and culture as a whole and offering professional trainings while fighting analphabetism, promoting a community and team spirit that encourages its members to support one another, and to promote awareness and preservation of the environment that sustains the population.

The efforts in the direction of achieving these objective have resulted in the realization of numerous concrete projects that benefited the local population. Among these are the establishment of an entire water management system in the village, investing in a local female cooperative (Al Baraka) that specializes in the extraction and sale of Argan oil, the inauguration of a social centre, Messaouda Bent M’Barek. AIDECO also organized the hosting of research students and tourist and organized various cultural, sportive and artistic festivities, as well as hikes in the framework of sustainable and socially responsible tourism.

Presently, the association attempts to align its objective with the King Mohammed VI’s recommendation, during his speech at the opening of the parliament autumn session, to help create a middle class in rural areas that would “create balance and contribute to economic and social development like the middle class in cities.“ For this reason, it has put together a project in partnership with the World Bank and the General Confederation of Moroccan Businesses a project to create revenue-generating activities in the framework of promoting artisan products. This project, currently underway, will benefit 25 young women from the village.

Other present projects include, planting 17 hectares of Argan trees in cooperation with the Network of Associations to Preserve the Argan Biosphere. AIDECO’s future projects also intend to create value and generate recurrent income for the region and consist of a project to construct infrastructure in order to accommodate tourists and support the solidarity economy, the renovation of the Targa Imin’tizeght of 950 ml saguia (water fountains) and preservation of the cultivated fields against hordes of wild bores, the creation of a cooperative to value and sell aromatic plants.  (future project), and the renovation of the touristic shrine of Sidi Abdeljabbar El Alaoui in collaboration with the association of Chorfaa of Sidi Abdeljabar Elaoui.

The road to realizing the goals that AIDECO sets for itself is often paved with obstacles. Perhaps the most difficult one to overcome are those related to its engineering needs. Technical expertise is needed to assist in performing a set of tasks such as establishing design plan for the management of the water source and install irrigation structure and a fence to keep wild bores outside of the village, performing topographic surveys and planning the outer limits of ancient structure of shrine that requires a total refurbishment and the establishment of a development plan, and elaborating an integrated development projects in the villages detailing the multitude of socioeconomic and environmental problems in the region and suggestion of possible solutions.

Contact AIDECO :
Email: anbdour1@yahoo.fr
Website: www.aideco.ma
Phone: +212662806178
+212673406403
Postal Adress : BP 304 Tafraout Centre