Raja Khairat

In Tangier, a city in northern Morocco, Asia Sebia ventured into the field of manufacturing solar-powered cooking ovens and dryers. Her journey began with a search for alternative energy sources what is known today as renewable energy and led her to establish a cooperative she named “Dhia for Solar solution”

Her involvement in this experience was far from easy. It required patience, fueled by strong determination and a firm belief that renewable energy and innovative solutions are the true foundations of sustainable development and the key to building a deep, enduring relationship with the earth.

 

A pioneering project in solar solutions

Speaking about this innovative project in developing alternative energy solutions, Asia Sebai said: “We established the Dhia Cooperative for Solar Solutions in 2019. An international organization had trained a group of women in various specialties related to renewable energies and vocational training. Afterwards, a number of beneficiaries were selected to create a cooperative focused on producing solar ovens and dryers. The organization continued to support us until early 2020.”

The “Dhia for Solar Solutions” cooperative specializes in manufacturing solar cooking ovens—devices similar to regular ovens but powered entirely by sunlight as an alternative energy source. The cooperative also produces solar dryers used to dehydrate vegetables, fruits, and aromatic and medicinal plants, helping preserve food for long periods without the need for refrigeration.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant challenge for this young cooperative, which was still struggling to gain stability. “After the contract with the organization ended, the members continued working within the cooperative. But then COVID-19 hit, and the project was brought to a halt. Since we were still in the early stages, we were unable to develop the cooperative as planned, especially because the beneficiaries needed to build their technical and practical skills in the field of renewable energy. Eventually, to resume our activities, the members had to relocate the cooperative from Tangier to the rural area of Fahs Anjra in northern Morocco.

 

Searching for Alternative Energy Solutions

Asia Sebai explained that, in light of climate challenges and limited access to energy sources, turning to renewable energies—especially solar power—has become an urgent priority for Morocco and for countries that struggle to access conventional energy. She emphasized that such projects are environmentally friendly, low-cost, and free of negative ecological impacts, while also offering sustainable, long-term solutions.

Regarding the decision to relocate the cooperative’s activities to the rural area of Fahs Anjra, she clarified that the move made it easier to conduct field testing. In rural areas, it becomes simpler to test solar dryers and ovens before marketing them, and to access the raw materials essential to the cooperative’s work, such as medicinal herbs and vegetables. In addition, solar cooking becomes more feasible since both the ovens and the dryers operate entirely using sunlight.

The “Dhia for Solar Solutions” cooperative is considered a pioneering project in northern Morocco. In 2021, it won the “Lalla Al-Mutaa’wina” (Lady Cooperator) Award for best project idea in the Tangier-Tetouan region—an award granted by the Ministry of Social Development, Family, and Solidarity to women entrepreneurs. The cooperative also received the Moroccan Women’s Excellence Award for best project in the same region. These achievements gave the cooperative strong motivation to pursue its goals, including producing high-quality solar cooking ovens and dryers powered by naturally renewable sources that replenish quickly enough to be considered inexhaustible on a human timescale.

 

Challenges and Difficulties

Speaking about the difficulties she encountered, Asia Sebai noted that the challenges were immense—so much so that many women withdrew from the project. Beyond the considerable time and effort required to manufacture solar ovens and dryers, the process is very costly and demands numerous technical skills. Most of the cooperative members had received only theoretical training and lacked essential hands-on experience.

She added: “By collaborating with international organizations and associations with extensive experience in the field, we managed to overcome many obstacles. We developed a new model of solar dryer after abandoning the old one, which had many technical flaws.”

She continued: “This new dryer model has already been adopted in several African countries and has shown excellent results. We created multiple versions of it, and we are currently working on improving it so it can operate for 24 hours, by storing solar energy for long periods—especially for products that require extended drying times, such as citrus fruits, which contain high amounts of water.”

One of the other challenges the cooperative faced was the difficulty of attracting specialized technicians to work on manufacturing the dryers and ovens and ensuring they remained committed. Many technicians left due to the demanding nature of the work.

 

Limited Awareness of Alternative Energy

Another major challenge facing the cooperative is the lack of public awareness about the importance of solar dryers and how they function. Many people still know very little about renewable energies and their value as alternatives to electricity, which makes the cooperative feel as if it is “working against the current.”

In this context, Asia Sebai called for raising awareness among citizens about renewable energy. “Most people in rural areas don’t know what a solar dryer is. They need field visits to see these devices, learn how medicinal herbs and plants are cut and prepared, and understand the drying process. The drying duration varies from one region to another depending on the climate—Marrakech, for example, requires far less time than the northern regions due to higher temperatures.”

She also noted that many people complain about the time required for solar cooking, forgetting that solar-based methods naturally take longer and vary based on regional temperatures and seasonal changes. Cooking time in winter, for example, differs significantly from summer.

The cooperative’s core activity is manufacturing solar dryers and ovens for cooking food and later marketing them—an activity made difficult by the fact that solar cooking and herb-drying culture is still relatively unknown in Morocco, where people prefer electric appliances or gas-powered ovens.

She highlighted the importance of educating users about how to properly operate solar devices, and how to cut fruits, vegetables, and especially sensitive medicinal herbs before placing them in the dryers, to ensure optimal results.

 

Lack of Training in the Field

Asia Sebai also called for spreading awareness about the importance of protecting natural resources—citing thyme as an example, which is disappearing from northern regions due to being harvested prematurely and excessively, leading to the depletion of this valuable natural asset.

She pointed out the importance of a program implemented by the cooperative with support from a French organization, aimed at producing solar dryers and distributing them to ten women’s cooperatives in the Tangier-Tetouan region that work in medicinal and aromatic herbs, dried figs, and couscous production.

She highlighted the usefulness of solar cooking, especially for people who embark on multi-day nature expeditions, as it allows them to cook without carrying gas or electric appliances.

Sebai also stressed the lack of sufficient training and technical knowledge in the field, particularly in practical aspects. While many women—students and researchers in renewable energy—possess strong theoretical backgrounds, they lack the technical skills required for hands-on work and thus urgently need specialized training.

In conclusion, she called for strengthening the capacities of women leading environmentally friendly, renewable-energy-based projects, encouraging them to enter fields traditionally dominated by men, by enhancing their technical skills and learning from the experience of countries that excel in this sector.