Argon Women's Cooperative

 Argon oil has become very popular, and is considered the new olive oil, and used in hip restaurants around the world to season salads with its nutty flavour. 

The argon tree is resistant to heat, and is an essential tool in the fight against desertification in southern Morocco. It has become vital to the local economy, providing firewood, fodder for goats, and oil for humans. Berber women harvest the fruit in the spring, then feed it to the goats who digest the fruit which dissolves the tough outer coating on the shell, then is recovered from the goats' dung, and the kernels are split, lightly toasted, pulped, and pressed.

To produce one litre of oil takes 30kg of nuts and 15 hours of manual labour, done solely by women.

                                               The women are splitting the kernels.
 

                                                              The pulping process.

 

                                    And now onto sales. We bought body oil, and soap.