Inside Morocco's Argan Women's Cooperatives
Most argan oil is made by rural women in southwestern Morocco, and much of it now passes through women's argan oil cooperatives, a model that began in 1996. These cooperatives have brought real income and some independence to many members, but research on their economic impact is mixed: pay is modest, and a growing share of the value is captured further up the supply chain.
The short answer
Argan oil cooperatives are groups, mostly of Amazigh women in southwestern Morocco, that crack argan nuts and press oil together and share the proceeds. The first opened in 1996. Studies credit the argan boom with more spending and schooling for girls in some households, but also find low pay and growing control by intermediaries.
Who makes argan oil?
The skills behind argan oil have long belonged to rural women. When UNESCO listed argan practices and know-how as intangible cultural heritage in 2014, it described them as held by rural women, and to a lesser extent men, in the argan region, and noted that "argan women" teach their daughters from a young age1. The United Nations likewise describes rural women as leading the whole oil extraction process7.
The work is slow. Traditionally, one person needed about 24 hours to extract roughly a liter of oil from 50 kg of fruit2, and the hardest part, cracking the stone-hard nuts to free the kernels, is still often done by hand. Our article on how argan oil is made walks through each step. Today, a review by Moroccan argan chemists says the oil is mainly produced by women's cooperatives using semi-industrial mechanical extraction2.
How the argan women's cooperatives began
Argan oil was long a household product, used in festive cooking and given as a wedding gift1. Its commercial story changed in the 1990s, when research by Moroccan chemist Zoubida Charrouf drew attention to the oil's nutritional and cosmetic value3. According to a study of the cooperatives in the International Journal of Intangible Heritage, the first women's argan oil cooperative, Amal, was founded in 1996 under Charrouf's guidance3. Others followed. Tighanimine, set up near Agadir in 2007, is described in the same study as the first fair-trade argan oil cooperative3.
Cooperatives and industrial producers also brought in mechanical presses, which changed the product. Mechanical pressing improved both the quality and the yield of the oil compared with hand kneading2, which helped make the cosmetic oil sold today possible.
What working in an argan cooperative looks like
Most of what is known about daily life in the cooperatives comes from interview-based research rather than large surveys. Huang's 2017 study, based on fieldwork in 2013 and 2016 at three cooperatives (Ajddigue, Amal and Tighanimine), offers one of the most detailed pictures3:
- Who does the work. Women do the physically demanding de-pulping and nut cracking, usually paid by the kilogram of kernels they produce.
- Pay. The study reports piece rates of 25 Moroccan dirhams per kilogram in 2002, 30 to 35 in 2013 and 40 to 45 in 2016, with average monthly pay of about 1,000 to 1,200 dirhams. The author notes that earnings remain low by Moroccan standards.
- Membership. Joining usually means a vote by existing members and a fee, which varies by cooperative and had risen sharply at one cooperative by 2016.
- Beyond income. Members described benefits such as year-end bonuses in good years, literacy classes, a vote at annual meetings, and the social freedom to travel to and from work on their own. Literacy classes had declined, though, and some members said they behaved more like employees than owners.
- Vulnerability. When a drought in 2007 doubled the price of argan fruit, one cooperative closed for six months without knowing whether it would reopen.
The UN frames cooperatives as a source of local jobs and of economic empowerment and financial inclusion for rural women7. The interview evidence supports that, while showing how thin the margins can be.
Do argan cooperatives raise incomes? What the research says
This is where the story gets more complicated than most product labels suggest. Economists and geographers who have studied argan households do not find a simple win.
| Study | What it looked at | Key finding |
|---|---|---|
| Lybbert et al., PNAS, 2011 | Household panel data and regional school and vegetation data | The boom let some households spend more and send more girls to secondary school, but it did not improve forest health4 |
| le Polain de Waroux and Lambin, Annals of the AAG | Household budgets and assets in argan villages | Argan oil sales played a relatively minor role; nonfarm work and remittances mattered more5 |
| Huang, Int J Intangible Heritage, 2017 | Interviews at three cooperatives | Real social gains, low pay, management and financial fragility3 |
| Montanari et al., Human Ecology, 2023 | Interviews with cooperative presidents in Souss Massa | Control of the trade has shifted to intermediaries supplying large companies, threatening cooperatives and women's income6 |
Taken together, the research suggests that argan income genuinely matters to many families, and that the effect on girls' schooling in particular is encouraging4. But for the average household, argan oil is one income stream among several, not a ticket out of poverty5, and the women who crack the nuts capture a small share of the final price. The most recent study warns that intermediaries buying for larger corporations increasingly set the terms, and argues that benefit-sharing arrangements are needed to protect women's income and traditional knowledge6.
There is an environmental thread too. The 2011 PNAS study found that higher argan prices let some households expand their goat herds, which the authors said bodes poorly for the forest4. Fair pay and forest health do not automatically move together.
Argan oil income is real, but it is rarely the whole story of a household, and almost never the whole price of the bottle.
Fair trade argan oil: what the label does and does not mean
A fair trade certification means an independent body has audited how producers are paid and how they work, against a published standard. That is more meaningful than an unsupported claim on a label, and fair-trade cooperatives such as Tighanimine have existed since 20073. It is not a guarantee of purity or freshness, though, and plenty of producers sell good oil without that particular certification.
The word "cooperative" is not a certification at all. Huang reports rumors of imposter cooperatives selling diluted oil, and of businesses outside the argan zone setting up so-called cooperatives to lure customers3. Take the word as a starting point for questions, not an answer.
How to recognize ethically sourced argan oil
You cannot audit a supply chain from a store shelf, but you can tell the difference between a seller who knows where their oil comes from and one who does not.
- Look for specifics. A named region or producer, a batch number and a pressing or best-before date are signs of traceability. "Supports women" with no details is not.
- Check third-party certifications. Fair trade labels speak to working conditions. USDA organic argan oil certification speaks to how the oil is grown, processed and handled, checked by an accredited certifier.
- Read the ingredient list. Ethical sourcing means little if the bottle is mostly another oil. Learn what 100% pure argan oil should say on the label.
- Be realistic about price. Oil that takes this much hand labor cannot be very cheap if the people making it are paid fairly. We explain the economics in why real argan oil costs what it does.
- Ask questions. A good seller can tell you where the oil was pressed and how. If they cannot, or will not, that is useful information.
Our own organic argan oil is USDA-certified organic, sourced from Morocco, hand-harvested and cold-pressed using traditional methods, with argan kernel oil as the only ingredient. And once you have a bottle you trust, it is worth using well; a few drops go a long way, and there are many ways to use argan oil beyond your face.
Frequently asked questions
Who makes argan oil?
Mostly rural Amazigh (Berber) women in southwestern Morocco, many of them working in cooperatives. A peer-reviewed review describes argan oil as now mainly produced by women's cooperatives using mechanical presses.
When did argan oil cooperatives start?
The first women's argan oil cooperative, Amal, was founded in 1996 with guidance from Moroccan chemist Zoubida Charrouf, whose research in the 1990s helped draw attention to the oil.
Do argan cooperatives really help women?
The research is mixed. Studies have linked the argan boom to higher household spending and more girls in secondary school, but also found argan income was a small part of most household budgets and that pay remains low.
Is fair trade argan oil better?
A fair trade certification adds an independent audit of how producers are paid and their working conditions, which is more than a plain claim. It does not by itself prove purity or freshness, so still check the ingredient list.
How can I tell if argan oil is ethically sourced?
Look for specific, checkable information: where it was pressed, who produced it, any third-party certifications, and a batch number. Vague claims about helping women, with no details, are hard to verify.
Sources
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Argan, practices and know-how concerning the argan tree (Morocco). Inscribed 2014 on the Representative List. Link
- Gharby S, Charrouf Z. Argan oil: chemical composition, extraction process, and quality control. Front Nutr. 2022;8:804587. Link
- Huang P. Liquid gold: Berber women and the argan oil co-operatives in Morocco. International Journal of Intangible Heritage. 2017;12. Link
- Lybbert TJ, Aboudrare A, Chaloud D, Magnan N, Nash M. Booming markets for Moroccan argan oil appear to benefit some rural households while threatening the endemic argan forest. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011;108(34):13963–13968. Link
- le Polain de Waroux Y, Lambin EF. Niche commodities and rural poverty alleviation: contextualizing the contribution of argan oil to rural livelihoods in Morocco. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 103(3):589–607. Link
- Montanari B, Handaine M, Id Bourrous J. Argan oil trade and access to benefit sharing: a matter of economic survival for rural women of the Souss Massa, Morocco. Human Ecology. 2023;51:995–1007. Link
- United Nations. International Day of Argania, 10 May (General Assembly resolution A/RES/75/262, 2021). Link
