The plight of female agricultural wageworkers in Morocco during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

While vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 were launched worldwide, a drama has been unfolding in the Moroccan countryside. It has been marked, over the last couple of decades, by rapid agrarian transformation, manifestations of which have included expanding irrigation frontiers and the increasing growth of high-value crops. These dynamics rely strongly on female agricultural wageworkers. Although they earn low wages, their income is crucial and is used to care for loved ones by paying for school fees, rent, electricity, and medicines. These workers, therefore, cannot afford to quit their jobs. However, most female wageworkers in Morocco are employed without a contract or social security cover. While working in an informal environment and living already in a precarious situation, little is known about how the pandemic has affected them. In this article, we seek to supply some of this information by drawing on the authors’ commitment over almost a decade of covering female wage-workers’ experiences in different agricultural regions in Morocco. Additionally, since March 2020, we have conducted 30 phone interviews with female laborers and farmers in the Saiss and in the coastal area of the Gharb and Loukkos. Using the pandemic as a focus, our results illustrate the inherent contradictions upon which Morocco’s agricultural boom has been founded. Although many female laborers are de facto heads of household or contribute in fundamental ways to the household income, they continue to be considered as secondary earners or as housewives, leading to low structural wages. Moreover, these women assume the prime responsibility for all domestic tasks, which are not economically recognized or valued. Consequently, they face new challenges in addition to their already precarious situations. Reduced work opportunities and limited state support have led to financial and psychological hardship which jeopardize their own and their family’s survival.

Covid-19 Impact on Agricultural Farmer’s Social, Physical, and Mental Health: A Literature Review

“…The results of other studies also found that farmers experienced many challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not get optimal support from the government (Nchanjia & Lutomia, 2021;Wegerif, 2021). Five studies (Bossenbroek & Ftouhi, 2021;Jaacks et al, 2021;Kulkarni et al, 2021;Landry et al, 2021;Lusk & Chandra, 2021) described about farmers on their social life from the production process (inputs, harvest and sell), accessing incentives, finding workers and lower income with high risk of disease. All study highlighted the farmers' difficulties in cultivating the land to selling the crops.…”

“…This review found that six articles (Bossenbroek & Ftouhi, 2021;Cevher et al, 2021;Fang et al, 2021;Landry et al, 2021;Quandt et al, 2021;Shafi et al, 2021) described the effect of pandemic on mental health in farmers such as anxiety, fear, worry, depression, stress and substance use disorders. Psychological problems during COVID-19 can be directed by the impact of the disease, restriction that lead to limited access to social support facilities and uncertainty and stress resulting from loss jobs and livelihoods (Semo & Frissa, 2020).…”

“…The pandemic induced lockdown further exposed these vulnerabilities (Kulkarni et al, 2021), The barriers faced were difficulty in harvest, sell the crop, decrease in income and dietary diversity (Jaacks et al, 2021), Structural low wages and new challenges to finding work. Difficulties in benefitting from governmental support programs (Bossenbroek & Ftouhi, 2021), toward lower incomes, greater job insecurity, and more perilous immigration and legal status than the general population, which suggest additional relative financial risks resulting from the burden of medical costs or lost time away from work (Lusk & Chandra, 2021), Substandard living conditions and the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Barriers to healthcare access, and Barriers to exercising labour rights (Landry et al, 2021).…”

“…The review found that farmers face a mental health problems such as anxiety (Bossenbroek & Ftouhi, 2021;Cevher et al, 2021;Fang et al, 2021), Fear, worry (Quandt et al, 2021), depression (Fang et al, 2021) stress (Shafi et al, 2021), substance use disorders (Landry et al, 2021).…”

Feminisation of agriculture and the role of environmental changes: ‘It's already a tough job and it's getting tougher due to weather changes’

“…Women's participation in farming activities is increasing in Morocco, but rural women still face poorer education and more limited access to economic opportunities than men (Boutkhil, 2019). Furthermore, they often work without a contract or social security coverage (Bossenbroek & Ftouhi, 2021). The lack of social security and access to land for women is deeply rooted in national factors (Gough et al, 2004; Thompson‐Hall et al, 2016), including the land inheritance system (Price‐Smith, 2001; Saad‐Zoy et al, 2010).…”