The Marrakech Artisan Fund

Many of the artisans we work with come from small towns and villages in Morocco and are dependent on the sales of their crafts to support their families and wider community. Tourism plays a huge part in their trade but since the advent of COVID-19 the tourism industry in Morocco has taken a massive hit and many artisan communities have suffered.  

This is not only worrying on a personal level but as they look for alternative forms of income in other industries they leave behind generations and generations of tradition and skills that are not easily reproduced.

At Artisans du Maroc we are committed to supporting the community we work with in any way that we can. Through our sales we are helping sustain many artisans livelihoods but we don't stop there. We have been working with a number of different charitable organisations to help keep the skills, traditions and culture of Moroccan artisans alive. 

One of the organisations we support is the Marrakech Artisan Fund which was set up at the start of the pandemic in 2020 to help support Artisans hit badly by the crisis. Although there has been some government assistance, many artisans are struggling to meet their needs in terms of food, medicine and rent. Through their campaign, the Marrakech Artisan Fund have been able to give a selected and vetted number of artisans a minimum one-time cash gift of 100-250 dollars to help them through these tough times. They have also set up a sponsor an artisan scheme which we are proud contributors of.

To date they have raised a total of $79,925 of which $59,800 was distributed in direct cash subsidies to out of work artisans. The remaining $20,125 has been distributed as 375 food baskets.