Riffians are an Amazigh group originally from the Rif region situated in northeastern Morocco. The ethnic group derive their name from the Rif region, an Arabic term that translates to “edge of cultivated area.” As a result of decades of wars and Franco-Spanish colonization, Riffians are amongst the most marginalized and disadvantaged groups in Morocco. According to statistics, they boast the highest cancer rates in the country (due to the chemical weapons used by the Spanish during the 1920s), access to basic human rights such as education is still a luxury, and infrastructure and roads are still lacking. Now with the climate crisis posing a serious risk to the region, the indigenous people of Rif could suffer even more. It’s for this reason that Casablanca, the Paris-based label spearheaded by Moroccan-French designer Charaf Tajer, has decided to support The Rif Tribes Foundation (RTF), a youth-led humanitarian and cultural charity dedicated to the people of the Rif mountains.
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“Comprised of dozens of tribes who have lived in the mountains since prehistoric times, the land has long-been rich in agricultural resources which are now vastly unsustainable due to climate change,” wrote the brand on Instagram. “With hunger and inaccessibility to basic necessities such as food, water, shelter, and medical care — large populations of the Rif are in need of a safe and sustainable future.”
Founded in 2022, RTF’s “goal is to provide the basic and essential services and necessities that the people of the Rif desperately need regardless of their tribe, gender, background or age” through projects like the food relief program, that offers monthly emergency relief boxes to vulnerable families. The food relief program also has members of RTF stationed across some of the most-populated cities in the Rif region to provide anyone who is in immediate need of food with a freshly cooked, healthy plant-based meal.
Anyone who wishes to join Casablanca in helping the people of Rif can financially contribute to The Rif Tribes Foundation online, where they also accept donations in the form of Cryptocurrency.
