25/26 August 2015 Milan Expo, Italian Pavilion: the Universal Expo was an opportunity to showcase the results of an international cooperation project named O.L.I.V.O. carried out in Morocco by C.E.F.A. Onlus, the seed of solidarity, a non-governmental agency supporting humanitarian causes worldwide for the last 40 years.
The project centred around the social and cultural development of a particular area of Morocco characterised by very high emigration rates, with people abandoning farming activities, and low levels of schooling, especially among women.
Together with C.E.F.A., we gave Expo visitors the chance to understand that rediscovering olive farming, a once-prominent Moroccan tradition, especially in Tadla Azilal, opens up great opportunities not only for economic development but also for increased social cohesion thus preventing thousands of people from leaving their territory. It also nurtures a positive sense of national identity.
Over two days, visitors to the Expo 2015 in Milan were able to hear all about this project from the very people whose expertise made it possible.
C.E.F.A.’s communication manager Giovanni Beccari and co-operators Gianpiero Carretta and Sofia Di Cocco related their personal experience focusing on the social impact. The storytelling was accompanied by a tasting of extra virgin olive oil from olives of the Picholine Marocaine variety led by Marcello Scoccia, chief panelist for the O.N.A.O.O. (National Organisation of Olive Oil Tasters).
The technical aspects of the farming techniques introduced to improve Moroccan olive production in terms of quality and quantity were explained by Professors Piero Fiorino and Elettra Marone.
Franco Gasparini, owner and founder of PrimOli, also gave his contribution illustrating the main traits of the cultivar Picholine Marocaine and how to maximise their market value both nationally and internationally.
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