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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Genetic resources and benefit-sharing · Morocco · 2019–2025

MoroccanOil and argan (Israel/Morocco)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 not measured · 1 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

An Israeli cosmetics brand named for Morocco reported revenue of USD 60.6 million in 2024. No benefit-sharing with the Amazigh women's cooperatives that work with argan in Morocco is on record in the sources reviewed.

USD 60.6m vs none on recordMoroccanOil revenue, 2024, and recorded benefit-sharing with Moroccan cooperatives
Revenue as reported by Hespress English (10 May 2024). No benefit-sharing record was found in the sources reviewed.

Status As of 2024-2025 reporting: no benefit-sharing record found; Moroccan argan production reported down 51% in 2019-2025.

What?
An Israeli brand named for Morocco earned reported revenue of USD 60.6 million from an oil made from Moroccan-origin argan, with no benefit-sharing on record. Hespress English
Where?
Israel (production, company) and Morocco (argan, cooperatives). Hespress English
When?
Revenue reported for 2024; production decline reported for 2019-2025. Hespress English
Who?
Gained
  • MoroccanOil Ltd. — Reported revenue of USD 60.6 million (2024) Hespress English
Lost
  • Amazigh women's cooperatives, Morocco — No benefit-sharing is on record; production fell 51% in 2019-2025 and they compete with large cosmetics firms for raw material SNRT News
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The sources reviewed do not state a reason for the absence of benefit-sharing.
How?
The product is made in Israel; the sources reviewed record no benefit-sharing arrangement. Hespress English
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Hespress English reported on 10 May 2024 that MoroccanOil, a brand produced in Israel, had revenue of USD 60.6 million. The article's headline gives the figure as USD 62 million.

According to the same report, about 20,000 argan trees grow in Israel, and the sources reviewed record no benefit-sharing arrangement with the Amazigh women's cooperatives in Morocco, where argan is traditionally worked.

In Morocco, SNRT News reported that argan production fell 51% over a period given as 2019 to 2025, attributed to drought. The same report said the cooperatives were competing with large cosmetics companies for raw material, and gave the number of cooperatives as 4,525.

A 2023 article in the journal Human Ecology reports that intermediaries have taken over the argan trade in Morocco.

  1. 2019Start of the period over which SNRT News reports a 51% fall in Moroccan argan production, attributed to drought
  2. 2023Human Ecology article reports intermediaries taking over the argan trade
  3. 2024Hespress English reports MoroccanOil revenue of USD 60.6 million and about 20,000 argan trees in Israel
  4. 2025End of the period over which argan production is reported to have fallen 51%

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The brand name "MoroccanOil" for a product made in Israel
    MoroccanOil Ltd. (brand name) · Hespress English

Recorded

  • Revenue of USD 60.6 million reported for MoroccanOil (Hespress English, 2024).
    Hespress English
  • About 20,000 argan trees in Israel.
    Hespress English
  • No benefit-sharing arrangement with Amazigh cooperatives is recorded in the sources reviewed.
    Hespress English
  • Argan production in Morocco fell 51%, period given as 2019 to 2025, attributed to drought; cooperatives compete with large cosmetics companies for raw material; 4,525 cooperatives.
    SNRT News
  • Intermediaries have taken over the argan trade in Morocco.
    Human Ecology

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Argan production in Morocco
-51%
Period given as 2019-2025, attributed to drought (SNRT News)
Argan trees in Israel
About 20,000
Hespress English, 2024
Independent ecological evaluation
None found
No assessment of the effect of the trade on argan trees is in the sources reviewed

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Record

  • Unclear Whether any payment or benefit-sharing arrangement exists between MoroccanOil and Moroccan cooperatives: none is on record in the sources reviewed.
  • None on record The source of the argan material used by MoroccanOil is not stated in the sources reviewed.
  • Disputed The Hespress English headline gives USD 62 million while its text, as recorded, gives USD 60.6 million; the sources reviewed do not explain the difference.

Did the harm stop?

Not applicable: the sources reviewed record no measure to limit effects on argan trees or to share benefits.

Who paid?

The sources reviewed do not identify who bore the cost; they record no payment to the Moroccan cooperatives.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

Press and investigations

Researchers

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