Beyond Sustainability™ is a movement to create tangible and measurable social change through commerce, not charity. It’s a movement to create female entrepreneurs who are agents of change in their community. It is built on traditional, sustainable practices and fair trade. Beyond Sustainability™ is preserving heritage skills while inspiring the next generation of artisans. It all started with the Orange Blossom Project...

The Orange Blossom Project was formed to address inconsistent employment and low annual income. Since 2015 we have worked hand in hand with the indigenous Amazigh community in north west Morocco that harvest floral ingredients for perfume production.

Traditionally, the rose, jasmine and orange blossom harvests only provided short-lived employment for the women harvesters, with no alternative employment options. Furthermore, 900 tons of orange blossom waste by-product are yielded annually from the harvest and essential oil distillation, (the first stage of perfume production).

To address these issues, Sana Jardin joined with our non-profit partner Nest, that supports artisan communities, and international floral ingredient supplier, Les Aromes du Maroc. We worked closely with the agrarian community, piloting three micro-enterprises with female farmers in the villages of Tiddas and Maaziz.

We provided closed loop systems that enable the women to upcycle floral waste into their own line of products including orange blossom water and orange blossom, jasmine and rose candles that they sell locally and nationally. This provides employment throughout the year.

It does not stop there. Participating women farmers received expert mentorship and training on product pricing, brand development, and market analysis to ensure they launched a competitive product range.

The women are the sole shareholders of the cooperative and retain 100% of the proceeds from the products they sell, under their own brand called Annamaa.

We are proud to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, to empower women (goal 5), promote sustainable economic growth with full, productive employment (goal 8), and ensure sustainable production practices (goal 12).
IMPACT

After just 6 months of operations, the founding cooperative members have seen a significant increase to their income, with a projected 250% increase by end of 2017.

Sana Jardin and our partners are committed to support the long-term business growth of the cooperative and to monitor and report on the social impact over time.

We hope to take this project into a movement in other parts of the world though The Beyond Sustainability™ Movement.