Souk Shamali · The Founder
Hafida Ait Issa
The Woman Who Read the Land Before She Transformed It
Hafida Ait Issa founded the Nouara Ain El Hajar Agricultural Cooperative in the rural commune of Ben Karish, Tetouan province, in 2011. The cooperative specializes in the cultivation and valorization of medicinal and aromatic plants.
The region's land was known for its fertility, but local women had no structured way to bring their produce to market — crops would often go to waste simply because there was nowhere to send them. Hafida recognized this not as a limitation of the land, but as a failure of the system around it. She started with an association that later became a cooperative, employing 28 women directly and working with many more who farm their own land as partners.
Transforming the Land
Hafida converted land that sat largely idle into cultivated farms of aromatic and medicinal plants. She also extended the cooperative's work into saffron and argan — two crops that had no established presence in the region at the time, and whose introduction required both conviction and technical expertise.
The saffron experiment paid off decisively. The cooperative's saffron grew competitive with produce from Morocco's established producing regions — a result that few would have predicted for Tetouan at the outset. Alongside this, Hafida developed methods to preserve the nutritional properties of plants over time, giving the cooperative the ability to deliver consistent quality at prices that hold in the market.
The demand for our products is strong, both in Morocco and abroad. We receive requests to expand our range and make better use of what the region grows.
Building the Cooperative
The cooperative produces a wide range of goods from the plants grown in and around Ben Karish: verbena, mint, orange blossom, lavender, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, and others. These are processed into essential oils, floral waters, natural cosmetics, vinegars, teas, spices, and food products.
The goal is to valorize local products, increase yields, create added value, and improve the living conditions of the women involved.
When Souk Shamali was established as a permanent cooperative marketplace in Tetouan, no one was better placed to lead it than Hafida. She was no stranger to this world — she had been at the heart of it from the very beginning. She built a cooperative from nothing, and lived firsthand what producers go through when there is no outlet and effort goes to waste. Managing the market was a natural extension of everything that came before.
Training and Knowledge
Before starting the cooperative, Hafida spent time in Italy where she encountered first-hand the commercial and agricultural value that medicinal and aromatic plants could carry when properly understood and processed. On returning to Morocco, she completed field training and specialized courses in plant cultivation, oil extraction, and distillation — in Morocco and abroad.
This foundation shaped how the cooperative works at every stage. Products are made with a working knowledge of the plants themselves — their active properties, the conditions they need, how to extract what matters, and how to ensure that quality holds through processing and storage.
Her time in Italy was not a detour. It was the moment she understood that what grew in Ben Karish had real commercial worth — and that the missing piece was the knowledge and structure to unlock it.
What Comes Next
Hafida Ait Issa has received recognition for her work in Morocco and internationally. Her focus now is on expanding the cooperative's capacity, drawing more women into the work, and developing the region's natural products for both local and international audiences.
The cooperative's products reach customers through its own premises, affiliated shops, and premium retail markets — built on a decade of consistent quality and a reputation that was earned, not announced.
We want to expand what we do, support more women, develop their skills, and show what this region is capable of producing.
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