Safi – The High Atlas Bio-Cultural Crossroads will take place on July 10-11 in Aghbalou, in the Setti Fadma commune, marking the gathering’s 2nd edition. 

For two days, the Ourika Valley will turn into a marketplace for the mountains’ food, seeds, and farming know-how.

The event is organized by the Moroccan Biodiversity and Livelihoods Association (MBLA) in partnership with the Territorial Commune of Setti Fadma. 

Together, the two partners aim to demonstrate how local economic development and environmental conservation can go hand in hand, rather than exist in opposition.

One of the event’s highlights will be the High Atlas Food Market, where regional cooperatives will showcase and sell terroir products from across the mountain region. 

Alongside it, an agroecology market will bring together chemical-free producers, offering visitors the chance to buy directly from farmers while promoting a shorter, more sustainable farm-to-table supply chain.

The Seed Fair goes deeper into the valley’s heritage. Farmers, researchers, and the local growers known as seed guardians will exchange peasant seeds and local species, part of a push to keep the mountains’ crop diversity alive as the climate grows drier.

Away from the stalls, farmers from the region will join hands-on agroecology workshops, learning composting, water management, and natural pest control by experimenting in the field. 

A series of meetings, organized with IECD Morocco and supported by Fondation de France, will connect mountain producers with buyers and consumers.

Setti Fadma sits at the top of the Ourika Valley, about an hour south of Marrakech, a summer escape known for its waterfalls and riverside cafes. The Crossroads adds one more reason to make the drive in July.

The seed keepers behind it

Founded in 2014 and based in Marrakech, the Moroccan Biodiversity and Livelihoods Association (MBLA) has become a leading force in protecting the High Atlas’ natural and cultural heritage while strengthening rural livelihoods. 

Through its work, the association places a particular emphasis on empowering women and young people, helping communities preserve local traditions while creating sustainable economic opportunities.

Its community seed banks conserve more than 500 local seed varieties, a living insurance policy for the mountains’ food in a drier climate. 

That work earned MBLA the United Nations Development Programme’s Equator Prize in 2024, one of the world’s leading awards for community-led conservation.

The first Crossroads took place in July 2025, organized with the Setti Fadma commune and Cadi Ayyad University’s Faculty of Sciences. 

It grew out of the association’s long-running solidarity markets and local seed fairs, which this two-day format now brings together in one place.