The people behind ARGAND'OR - the women of the U.C.F.A. Berber Women Cooperatives
Argan oil has been produced for hundreds, possibly even thousands of years by Berber tribes in a region which is today known as Arganeraie, the only area where the rare and endangered Argan tree grows. The first written document about Argan tree and Argan oil is from the thirteenth century: Ibn Al Baytar, a botanist and physicist from Muslim Spain described the Argan tree and Argan oil in his botanical encyclopedia.
Since these early times, and most likely even longer, Argan oil has been obtained by Berber tribes using a traditional but complicated hand-crafting process. After separating the dried fruit, the extremely hard nut is opened between two stones. The seeds are removed from the nutshells and lightly roasted to enhance the flavor of the oil. The roasted kernels are ground in a heavy stone quern, producing an oily paste. The Berber women then constantly kneed the paste to extract the oil from the paste. After decanting and filtering, the oil is ready for consumption.
Some Women cooperatives went a different route, though. Rather then investing in expensive equipment, they opted to keep the tradition of producing Argan oil by hand alive. They wanted to produce Argan oil the traditional way, as their ancestors did for many generations. Unfortunately, due to the higher production cost of hand-crafted Argan oil, these brave women struggled to sell their premium product. To improve the situation, five hand-producing cooperatives founded the Union of Women’s Cooperatives of the Arganeraie (UCFA) in 1999 with the help of the GTZ. The main purpose of the UCFA was to find buyers for hand-crafted Argan oil at prices that would ensure the survival of the member cooperatives. However, due to the lack of marketing expertise and the dominance of the private competitors, the UCFA cooperatives continued to struggle and survived only with financial assistance from the GTZ and donations from Morocco’s Mohammed V Foundation. In 2004, the fifth year of existence, the UCFA had not been able to enter international markets, and domestic buyers of hand-pressed argan oil did not honor the efforts of the cooperatives and paid inadequate prices for UCFA produced oil. Sometimes, they did not pay at all!
In 1995, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the GTZ started to work together with Moroccan authorities on a conservation and development plan for the Arganeraie. The objective was to increase the potential of the region in a sustainable way, consistent with nature protection and landscape conversation. The production of hand-crafted Argan oil was identified as an ideal project to increase family income in this poor rural region, while contributing to the preservation of the endangered Argan tree. One of the main defining landmarks of this cooperation was December 1998, when the Arganeraie was officially recognized by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve.
The art of producing Argan oil in this traditional way has been handed down and perfected from generation to generation. Traditionally, Argan oil was mainly produced for in-home use. Berber women used the oil for cooking, as cosmetic oils and as treatment for many illnesses and skin conditions. Small amounts were produced for trading within Morocco, but only very little Argan oil was exported.
The increase in demand for Argan oil let to the mechanization of Argan oil production. Entrepreneurs from France, Switzerland and Morocco saw an opportunity to generate profits by exporting Argan oil to the West. In order to increase volume and lower the cost of Argan oil production, these private companies invested in mechanical expeller presses and in equipment for solvent extraction. By the end of 2005, sixteen private oil presses operated, many of them in Casablanca, hundreds of miles north of the Arganeraie. The indigenous Berbers, who used to control the little Argan oil production there was, were denigrated to mere suppliers of Argan seeds for these private operations. In order to increase the volume, the private companies started to source Argan seeds on the open market, with little quality control or knowledge of the origin or age of the Argan seeds. Meanwhile, the Berber tribes lost control of the Argan oil production, which for hundreds of years was their domain, to these industrialists. Only a small portion of the proceeds of Argan oil sales benefited the Berbers in the Arganeraie. Interestingly, these private companies often try to give the impression that their Argan oil is produced by Berber women.Quoting a study conducted by the German Government Development Agency (GTZ )*, “… the image of oil-producing women in the Arganeraie has found its way into commercial advertising, without these women having any share in the added value”. The GTZ report concludes that the image of hard working Berber women producing a premium Argan oil “ … is used to market cheap oil from the private presses in Casablanca, Marrakech and Agadir”
Encouraged by Moroccan authorities, Berber women in the rural Arganeraie started to set up cooperatives with the objective to produce and market Argan oil. With support of Western NGOs, many of these women cooperatives invested in mechanical equipment. The idea was to increase production and reduce cost, enabling them to compete with the private oil presses.
Mohamed El Karz, a Moroccan Engineer working for the German Moroccan Chamber of Commerce, met the struggling cooperatives while working on a development project in the Arganeraie.
In his assessment, the UCFA women cooperatives did the right thing: producing argan oil by hand, as their ancestors had done for centuries. Hand-crafting Argan oil was the only way to keep control of Argan oil where it belongs: in the rural Berber villages of the Arganeraie. After learning more about Argan oil production, Mohamed realized that the UCFA cooperatives had the potential of producing Argan oil of superior quality compared to industrial Argan oil. Since UCFA women cooperatives control the whole production process from harvest to oil extraction, they could ensure that only the best seeds are used for oil production. Furthermore, they also could ensure that the seeds would be processed immediately after removing the nut shells, eliminating one of the major problems of Argan oil production: oxidation of the exposed seeds. In these two areas hand-processing would be clearly superior to industrial production. With his engineering background, Mohamed could help the UCFA to maximize the quality of the UCFA Argan oil, justifying the higher price hand-crafting of Argan oil requires.
Maximizing the quality of the UCFA Argan oil was only one aspect, though. Mohamed realized that many more rural villagers could benefit from Argan oil production if the UCFA would be able to sell hand-crafted Argan oil in Europe, a market where demand for Argan oil was growing. At the time, the international markets were controlled by the private industrialists. The proceeds of Argan oil did barely benefit Morocco’s rural Berbers.
The UCFA benefited greatly from the partnership with Mohamed’s ARGAND’OR. The international demand for hand-crafted UCFA produced Argan oil multiplied. Due to the market success, the Berber women cooperative movement is flourishing. Today, twenty-two women cooperatives are united in the UCFA, providing good paying employment to more than one thousand women. But ARGAND’OR Argan oil does not only reduce poverty in the Arganeraie. The UCFA provides education to their members, reducing the high illiteracy rate amongst women in Morocco’s rural southwest. The cooperatives promote communication and cooperation amongst the women of different families and from different villages.
The Coop Movement is flourishing. Currently, 22 self governed Women Cooperatives are united in the UCFA:
- Tissaliwine
- Tamount
- Amalou N'touyag
- Al Amal
- Tourtatine
- Tainiouine
- Timsal
- Tagmat
- Doumagdol
- Afous Ghoufous
- Maouriga
- Targa
- Ifrawn N'lhana
- Al Hanouane
- Aloumas
- Taouiri
- Afra
- Tiwizi
- Tafsout
- Titar
- Argane Idaoumatat
- Tiznine
Starting in the early 90s of the last century, the European cosmetic industry as well as culinary interests discovered Argan oil. The exceptionally high amount of anti-oxidants made Argan oil interesting for cosmetic applications. And chefs, particularly in France, were enjoying the unique gourmet taste of Argan oil.
In 2005, ARGAND’OR hand-crafted Argan oil was launched at the BioFach Organic Food show in Nuremberg, Germany. ARGAND’OR won the prestigious product of the year award and has been a tremendous success since. Gourmet chefs and health food aficionados discovered the superior taste and nutritional benefits of ARGAND’OR hand-crafted Argan oil. Since then, UCFA cooperative produced Argan oil has been introduced in eight European countries, Japan, the middle East and finally, in 2007, in the United States.
The coop members learn to manage their cooperatives professionally, a skill that was not considered desirable for women in Morocco’s rural provinces just a few years back. The female entrepreneurs obtain the knowledge of market functions, the importance of marketing and learn how to negotiate and act within a competitive market. Due to the success of the cooperatives, the economic position of women greatly improved, resulting in the development of strong self-confidence and a vastly improved social position in the male dominated rural Arganeraie. Women, who were often not allowed to leave the house, now travel to UCFA meetings across the region, and even to international conventions such as the BioFach show in Germany. US Sales of ARGAND’OR Argan oil directly benefit the women cooperatives, who receive fair trade prices for the hand-crafted Argan oil well above market level.
In 2004, Mohamed discussed the needs of the UCFA with Rudolf Bresink, an experienced German marketer. Together, they established ARGAND’OR to partner with the UCFA to market premium quality hand-pressed Argan oil internationally. Mohamed worked closely together with the UCFA and developed a strict quality management system and quality control regime for the hand-crafting process. Rudolf spearheaded the development of the ARGAND’OR brand for the international markets and helped the UCFA to improve the marketing of the domestic TISSALIWINE brand.
* GTZ Report:
Dieter Nill, Elke Bohnert "Value Chains for the Conservation of Biological Diversity for Food and Agriculture", August 2006
