Women’s roles in agriculture
Gender roles in Moroccan agriculture are much different than what I am used to in the United States. As stated by researcher Lisa Bossenbroek and Hind Ftouhi of the Hassan II Veterinary and Agronomic Institurte, “ Many of them work without a contract or social security and are forced to cope with different forms of social stigma.” Women are still very important to the agricultural development of the country. The perform smaller yet crucial tasks such as helping package fruits as we saw at iberry, “transplanting onions, thinning the fruits, weeding, and harvesting”. Some women are also part of Women Cooperatives that have helped Morocco bounce back from the negative impacts of COVID-19 through agriculture, handicrafts, and tourism. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, “In recent years, women-led cooperatives in particular have thrived, building a reputation for providing good-quality services at affordable prices and reaching a wide range of consumers.”
We saw women in many different areas of work during our trip so far. Earlier in the trip we saw women working in iberry doing the packaging and sorting of the berries. I noticed that men did the most of the more difficult work in that facility. Further into the trip at the avocado farm, it was said that they primarily hire men to harvest and work for them. They stated that this was due to the men being able to climb up into the trees more easily during the harvesting process. In comparison to the U.S., I find it very interesting to see what the Moroccan people think women are capable of or what is socially appropriate for them to be doing. When discussing the women's coops, I learned that they use this form of agriculture and crafts to earn a small livelihood while still giving them time to cook and do other things around the house.
I think that women in Morocco are on the path to create a better work environment for themselves through their cooperatives and are already a crucial part of agriculture. Once their role is recognized as being essential, they will slowly gain more benefits and incentives to be part of the agricultural processes and have stable and more permanent jobs.
Usaid. (2022, October 19). Women-led Cooperatives Drive Resilience in Morocco. Medium. https://medium.com/usaid-2030/women-led-cooperatives-drive-resilience-in-morocco-d15239d98374
After our visits to the different farms, it was obvious that women in Morocco have a different role in agriculture compared to United States. I found it interesting that it is socially acceptable for women to mainly work in the processing and packing warehouses. I feel like this also a choice of theirs so that they can also spend time with their children and be there to support them. This is different than what we have in the United States where women are dispersed throughout all stages of agricultural production. The Universities in Morocco have also shown that they are pushing for higher education for women for all fields of work. This will lead to women having more prominent roles in their workforce.
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