The subject I’m about to talk about inspired me in a law class. I would like to understand how a very well-known product is elaborated in such difficult even precarious conditions. Let’s discover the other side of the coin…
Today, the argan oil is considered as a star product for the world cosmetic field. You can find it in supermarkets’ shelves and it is sold pure or integrated to shampoos, shower gels or creams, under the brand of the biggest laboratories.
Let’s interest to the origin of the famous oil: it comes from Moroccan farmers’ cooperatives.
If you are a tourist on visit in the South of Morocco, doubtless a visit of a cooperative which produces the argan oil will be proposed to you. Inside, you will observe Moroccan women crushing walnuts between two stones before extracting almonds. These fruits come from the argan tree which is very present in the region. Besides, as the trees have been overexploited, all have been declared property of the UNESCO because they contribute to almost 25% to 45% of a family income.
All the more, cooperatives look like a Revolution for women because they have, for the first time, the possibility to assist classes. This can contribute to the elimination of the high rate of illiteracy existing in Moroccan countries.
Nevertheless, the cooperatives have to face up to industrialists who seized the sector. Contrary to cooperatives, they use machines which are able to produce a big quantity of oil. The products are then exported at a high price: about 190 Euros/L in Europe. Isolated cooperatives, as for them, does not have any negotiation power and are unable to produce big volumes. So they make business betting on few oil seekers and some networks of fair trade. That is why their almonds are sold at a low price.
Thus, to protect their natural resource, Morocco has decided to implement a Protected Geographical Indication (IGP) to professionalize the field concerned, protect the Moroccan heritage since the argan tree only grows in Morocco and control the quality of oil.
However, some difficulties appear such as the name to designate the oil because the traditional word “argane” has already been employed by a French laboratory.
So, ladies, when you will buy products containing argan oil, please think about the Moroccan women working in cooperatives and make a little financial gift to Moroccan associations to help these women to be able to continue to work. They only have oil production to live.
Oriane BELABBES
It is hard to be full aware of these women’s working conditions, knowing that the traditional Moroccan method permits to obtain only one liter of oil over several day’s work.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, I have just read an article explaining that these women will now have to compete with another country since the oil is now produced in Israel without goat droppings because the oil is extracted by pressing. Furthermore, an Israeli company has developed a strain of argan tree which bears ten times the amount of fruit that the Moroccan tree does.
The argan oil price will probably drop to these women’s great despair.
Carine Vulliez
It is true that multinationals focus their investments where taxes are lower, where the labor force is cheaper and where the labor law is flexible.
ReplyDeleteBut there are some solutions to prevent this:
--> Make the labor law more restrictive
--> The government has to act politically
These intensive productions contribute to the deforestation of the argan tree and destroy the country's wealth!
arhanja sanae