Ark of the dry lands

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

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Summary

Researchers in Morocco are developing dry-land agriculture at ICARDA (the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas). It is home to a gene bank, in which around 150,000 different seed-types are kept in perfectly calibrated cold vaults, and duplicated to protect them from ‘fire, earthquake and war.’ They’re used for the creation of new varieties - such as wheat or lentils resistant to drought or disease, without pesticides. The gene bank is a public good - anyone, anywhere, can request seeds free of charge. Laaziza Atmani, head of the Al Amal women’s farming co-operative in the middle Atlas Mountains, uses ICARDA seeds and expertise to develop her couscous business. ‘Setting up the co-op changed our lives,’ she says.

Transcript

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0:00.0	How do farmers keep growing even in the driest land?
0:05.0	Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.
0:09.0	I'm Aidan Tulloch.
0:14.0	This is where we prepare the cusscus.
0:20.2	This is the first stage. We start by rolling the grains of the
0:25.5	cusscus in traditional way then we put it in the dryer
0:31.6	we're gonna run me and then rame in the force we're using the whole water We are using the whole weight
0:42.3	We are adding water
0:47.3	Some water with salt
0:49.3	Then I add a little bit of the flour
0:53.3	Then I start rolling with the palms of my hand.
1:00.1	So we can separate the big grains from the small ones.
1:09.0	Liziza Atmali is making cusscus by hand with her friends.
1:14.3	Ten women who've come together to create the Al-Amal farming cooperative
1:18.1	near Azru in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco.
1:25.5	Now we will use another sieve.
1:28.3	All by hand, all the steps.
1:34.3	We add flour.
1:40.3	Now this is the goose-us.
1:43.3	It is ready.
1:45.4	We will take it to the steamer.
1:48.7	We're here with Dr. Nada Usalus.
	...

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