Kick-Off Regional Meeting Highlights the Inclusion of Women in the Olive Smallholder Olive Value Chain in Essaouira Province, Morocco
The African Plant Nutrition Institute conducted the kick-off regional meeting to describe and discuss its projects on “Improving the Inclusion of Women in the Olive Smallholder Value Chain” on December 19, 2022, at the Tyout Chiadma Olive Oil Cooperative’s headquarters in Masskala, province of Essaouira.
Coordinated by Dr. Hakim Boulal, Program Manager at APNI, and Ms. Aziza Tangi, Agricultural Engineer, and Ph.D. Candidate APNI/UM6P, the meeting focused on presenting the objectives and the phases of the project to a group of participating partners.
Alongside farmers, the partner Institutions of Essaouira included members of the Tyout Chiadma Cooperative for the production and commercialization of olive oil, the Moroccan Interprofessional Olive Federation (Interprolive), the Provincial Direction of Agriculture, the National Office of Agricultural Advisory, and Essaouira’s Women Foundation for Economic Development.
Following the presentation of the project’s objectives and development phases, the partners confirmed the undervaluation of the involvement of women in the olive oil value chain in Essaouira and acknowledged that this project will be an opportunity to provide solutions and strategies for their empowerment.
Women are constantly participating in different nodes of the Olive Value Chain; As a kid, I grew up witnessing my mother, grandmother, and sisters being very active members. They select the best olive for conservation, traditionally prepared olive oil to feed the family members, and generated extra money to support our household. People have recently started communicating about these efforts, but this is nothing new for us. – Mr. Abdelhak, Farmer and Member of the Tyout Chiadma Cooperative
The stakeholders all agreed that the direction of this initiative would boost the visibility of women and create additional financial resources for them, as is the case for the Argan oil value chain, where women’s roles are already strongly recognized.
Contributed by Dr. Hakim Boulal, Program Manager at APNI, Mrs. Yousra Moujtahid, Communications Specialist at APNI and Ms. Aziza Tangi, Agricultural Engineer, and Ph.D Candidate UM6P/APNI