The Taymate Cooperative: A Women-led Empowerment Story

Abstract

When success stories from agricultural cooperatives are identified they deserve to be studied and told to inform actions for scaling out best management. We explore how cooperatives encourage strategies for livelihood improvement and support economic and social innovations to foster community adaptation to climate change. Lessons from the Taymate Olive Cooperative inform the design and implementation of effective policies and programs supporting the growth and sustainability of gender-sensitive agricultural cooperatives in Morocco and contribute to the socioeconomic development of rural communities.

Full text

Issue 2, 2023 | Growing Africa 33
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The history of the Taymate Cooperative
Livelihood-driven cooperatives are constituted
by independent groups or individuals that
voluntarily agree to address shared economic,
social, and cultural needs and goals through a jointly
owned and democratically run business (Zeuli
and Cropp, 2004). In 2008, motivated to generate
income to support their families, a group of young
women with diplomas created such an agricultural
cooperative. The cooperative is located in Timoulilt
commune, Azilal, in Morocco’s northcentral Beni
Mellal-Khenifra region. Currently the Taymate
Cooperative has 20 members, including 15 women
and five men, and a capacity to produce 50 t of
table olives from olive orchards covering an area of
around 70 ha. The main activities of the cooperative
include producing, collecting, packaging, and
processing olives. The cooperative aims to add value
to harvested olives, preserve the olive trees of the
Timoulilt commune, and engage women to improve
their income levels and, subsequently, their family’s
standard of living.
In 2011, the cooperative built its olive preservation
unit with support from a National Initiative for Human
Development (INDH) program in Azilal province and
the European Committee for Agricultural Training
The Taymate Cooperative:
A Women-led Empowerment Story
By Aziza Tangi, Ngonidzashe Chirinda, Hakim Boulal, and Thomas Oberthür
When success stories from agricultural cooperatives are identified they deserve to be
studied and told to inform actions for scaling out best management. We explore how
cooperatives encourage strategies for livelihood improvement and support economic and social
innovations to foster community adaptation to climate change. Lessons from the Taymate
Olive Cooperative inform the design and implementation of effective policies and programs
supporting the growth and sustainability of gender-sensitive agricultural cooperatives in
Morocco and contribute to the socioeconomic development of rural communities.
Meeting establishing the Taymate Cooperative in March 2008.

34 Growing Africa | Issue 2, 2023
(CEFA). Then, in 2014, the French Foundation further
equipped the cooperative with other modern machinery.
The cooperative has benefited from a supporting
ecosystem fostered by the Green Morocco Plan’s (2008–
2020) strategy centered on growth in the agricultural
sector based on cooperatives, state actors including the
INDH and Ministries of Agriculture and Industry, and
several other national and international institutions.
Working within the cooperative has provided
members the opportunity to be more independent
financially, even if the gain was small. For these
women, belonging to the cooperative provides a relief
that gives them a sense of freedom.
The Taymate Cooperative members are women
warriors who can do great things with little. Can
you imagine what they can achieve if given a chance
and the resources to improve their lives and their
local communities? These women were happy
despite their initial working conditions in a small
building without electricity or running water since it
gave them a chance to escape the arrogance of their
bosses at the farms as agricultural wage workers.”
- Rabha, Cooperative President
Why is Taymate Cooperative
a success story?
While there is a myriad of factors that contribute
to the success of a cooperative, including the financial
and capacity building support systems that they have
accessed, quotes from members of the Tayamate
cooperative explain their experiences:
Since joining the Taymate Cooperative, I felt that I am
blessed; it is a gift from God; it has enabled me to support
my family, my sick husband, and my two deaf and mute
boys. My life has started changing, and my passion for
my work has grown. The challenge for me has been
limited to the extent of my success in acquiring autonomy
at work and my ability to support my family. As a poor
woman raised in a rural area, I have never imagined that
one day I would travel in a plane outside Morocco or
shake hands and receive a gold medal from the Moroccan
Minister of Agriculture. That was unimaginable.”
- Fatiha, 60 years-old, Treasurer of the Cooperative,
and an Ex-wage Worker
Our members have benefited from the cooperative
since part of our income is shared among ourselves
and another part is reinvested into the cooperative.
This money has helped them enroll their children in
school and buy clothes and books. In addition, 70%
of the members have been able to continue building
their houses and brought small livestock to generate
more money for their livelihoods. Thanks to human
development programs and the support of the Regional
Directorate of Agriculture, Regional Agricultural
Development Office, the Chamber of Agriculture,
State authorities, the Social Development Agency
(ADS), the National Office of Sanitary Safety and
Food Products (ONSSA), elected councils, etc.,
the cooperative has been able to ensure its presence
on a large scale, despite national competition. This
has enabled us to participate in numerous national
and international exhibitions, notably in France,
Switzerland, the Emirates, Tunisia, and Morocco.
We have customers in Rabat, Marrakech, Azilal,
Beni Mellal, and Ouzoud in Morocco. It is a small
quantity, but we sell continuously.
”
- Halima, Vice President
The Taymate Cooperative has received several
certificates, including the “Terroir du Maroc”
product label, the food safety certificate from the
National Office of Sanitary Safety and Food Products
(ONSSA) in 2014 for table olives and an extra virgin
olive oil certificate in 2018. In addition, they obtained
the Independent Export Control and Coordination
Organization (EACCE) certificate for table olives in
2015. They have also won the gold medal for its extra-
virgin olive oil product and the bronze medal for its
herb-flavored black olives product in 2020.
Research has demonstrated that successful
agricultural cooperatives have proven to be an
effective tool for the socioeconomic development
of regions. They often catalyze a reduction in
social and spatial inequality and leverage social
and environmental protection and sociopolitical
emancipation (ODCO, 2012). In the Timoulilt
commune, the creation of the cooperative has
influenced the behaviors and attitudes of the farmers
regarding several agricultural practices such as
the pruning of the olive orchard. According to Si
Mustapha, a member of the cooperative, “In the
“
“
“

Issue 2, 2023 | Growing Africa 35
beginning, the farmers refused to practice pruning because
they considered the olive as a sacred tree that should not be
touched, but after different discussions and training, they
started practicing it, especially the farmers who are engaged
with the cooperatives to provide olives.”
Crafting a coherent group for a
sustainable cooperative
The creation of a homogeneous group is critical
to making cooperatives work. Being a cooperative
member is the individual’s first decision, and the
motivation is primarily economic. Farmers participate
because they obtain direct and indirect benefits. The
more diverse the membership and vision, the more
difficult it is to achieve agreement on goals, and as a
result, there are higher decision-making costs, including
the costs of gathering information on the member’s
preferences, voting cycles between them, as well as
attending meetings and other activities associated
with collective decision-making (Hansmann, 1999).
Farmers’ attitudes toward agricultural cooperatives
and participation behavior may differ depending on
their age, education, or the size of the farm under their
responsibility (Hansen et al., 2002; Osterberg et al.,
2009). Because cooperatives are owned and controlled
by their members (Dunn, 1988), active participation
in cooperative decision-making is critical to the
organization’s operation and viability (Spear, 2004).
The Taymate Cooperative members have different
education levels but they share a common goal:
looking for income-generating activities to cope
with the impact of climate change. It is essential
to remember that large group sizes can make
cooperation and survival more difficult. Cooperation
and efficiency, according to the theory of collective
action, necessitate unanimous action (Olson, 1971).
Large groups may encounter the problem of free
riders, which can hinder group efforts. Furthermore,
management theory studies have shown that
larger group sizes can lead to increased conflict and
decreased group cohesiveness (Valentinov, 2004).
Studies reveal that about 20% of cooperatives
fail in the first few years of operation (Ibourk and
El Aynaoui, 2023; Chlebicka et al., 2018; Grashuis,
2018). The high failure rate is caused mainly by
barriers to marketing, governance, management,
legislation, supervision, and funding, as well as
fundamental issues with leadership and project
formalization, mainly brought on by the beneficiaries’
low skill levels (Ibourk and El Aynaoui, 2023).
The cooperative members always look for
solutions because they are self-motivated. According
to Al Mehrzi et al. (2016), a significant and positive
relationship exists between member motivation
and performance. During the creation process, the
founders of the Taymate Cooperative tried to gather
motivated members who were determined to work
hard to improve their livelihoods and preserve their
ancestors’ olive orchards. That is among the keys
to the cooperative’s success and sustainability. The
motivation of the Taymate members arises from self-
will, and usually, intrinsic motivations are more durable
Participants of kick-off meeting to discuss opportunities for improving the inclusion and empowerment of women within
the smallholder olive value chain, Timoulilt commune, Morocco.

36 Growing Africa | Issue 2, 2023
than the motivation that comes from outside. Solidarity
and mutual respect are other principles that shape the
relationships between the members of the cooperative;
they work together as a family. An exogenous factor
influencing agricultural cooperative survival is the local
culture’s attitude toward the concept and values of
cooperation (Giagnocavo et al., 2018).
Women leaders can empower others –
and themselves
Cooperatives play an important role because
they can meet women’s practical and strategic needs
by providing access to income-generating activities
as worker-owners (Maleko, 2015). Women are the
Taymate Cooperative’s backbone because they provide
and participate in all activities. The cooperatives
have been led by two women, Halima and Rabha,
since the start. Both have demonstrated their ability
to help other women members overcome gender-
specific constraints to improve their self-confidence,
knowledge, income, access to inputs, and social
network and create a space for these women and
themselves in the table olive value chain.
I noticed a shift in my personality after years of joining
the cooperative. I gained self-confidence and can now
speak in front of people. I feel that my voice is heard
and can change my community. I like the new me, and
I am not afraid anymore. Now, I am convinced that
alone, we go fast. However, together, we go further.”
- Mina, cooperative member
Several studies have found that notions of leadership
are implicitly or explicitly assumed, with leadership being
linked to gender (Bajcar et al. (2019); Hassan et al.,
2008). Women’s leadership styles are more participative
and less directive than their male counterparts. Women
are people-oriented and “transformational” rather than
task-oriented and “transactional,” and this is a distinct
style (Eagley et al., 1990).
Most of the cooperative members are women and
they have demonstrated remarkable effectiveness
and cooperation, which has contributed to its success
and survival. Women are more active in cooperation
than men due to several factors. Firstly, women show
a greater inclination to cooperate in interaction with
strangers. At the same time, men tend to be more
sensitive to the effects of society and make cooperative
decisions more often when friends are in the group
(Peshkovskaya et al., 2018; Capraro et al., 2018).
Additionally, women’s attraction to cooperative
incentives may result from their more optimistic
assessments of their prospective teammate’s ability and
their advantageous inequity aversion (Peshkovskaya
et al., 2017). Furthermore, women’s behavior is
more reactive to the social conditions of different
games, and they are not less competitive than men
when the games evoke a parenting frame or include
a pro-social option (Kuhn et al., 2015). Overall,
women’s cooperative behavior may be influenced by
their evolutionary adaptation to strategically suppress
competitiveness to elicit cooperation for raising
offspring (Cassar et al., 2023).
Important Insights
Taymate’s Cooperative provided women with
support and training and gave them a source of
income, independence, control, and self-esteem. The
Cooperative members sorting olives for further processing
at the Timoulilt for Development Association.
“

Issue 2, 2023 | Growing Africa 37
success stories of this cooperative reflect the efforts
made by the members, particularly women, to build
their success in small but specific ways. However,
it is essential to note that despite efforts to combat
poverty and gender inequality, rural women still
face marginalization in development programs, with
limited participation in decision-making processes
and unequal economic benefits within cooperatives
(Montanari et al., 2019).
From the Taymate Cooperative’s story, women
should adhere to certain principles to succeed in
agricultural cooperatives. Firstly, cooperatives
should prioritize accountability, fair wages, and
competitiveness in high-end markets to avoid
failure, as Dossa (2012) confirmed. Secondly,
overcoming barriers to women’s participation,
such as low levels of education, domestic and
childcare responsibilities, and cultural constraints.
Illiteracy among rural women should be addressed
through education and empowerment initiatives
to promote their active participation in decision-
making processes (Housseine, 2021). Thirdly,
adopting sustainable management practices can
positively impact women’s cooperatives’ community,
environment and competitiveness (Omari et al.,
2013). Additionally, women’s participation in
decision-making processes and fostering cooperative
networks contribute to their success in agricultural
cooperatives (Esayas et al., 2017). Lastly, women’s
involvement in income-generating activities and
cooperative decision-making should be promoted to
ensure economic empowerment and gender equality
(Montanari et al., 2019).
The Taymate story of women empowering
women must be scaled out to other regions. Overall,
women’s cooperatives have proven to be a valuable
avenue for women’s social inclusion, empowerment
and economic advancement. Still, we must always
keep in mind the sociocultural differences in each
area because they influence how people intervene,
behave, and are willing to engage in efficient
collective actions. n
Ms. Tangi (aziza.tangi@um6p.ma) is a Doctoral Student at
the Agricultural Innovation and Technology Transfer Center,
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Benguérir,
Morocco. Dr. Chirinda is Professor of Sustainable Tropical
Agriculture, UM6P. Dr. Boulal is Senior Scientist, African
Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI), Settat, Morocco. Dr.
Oberthür is Director of Business and Partnerships, APNI,
Benguérir, Morocco.
Cite this article
Tangi, A., Chirinda, N., Boulal, H., Oberthür, T. 2023. The
Taymate Cooperative: A Women-led Empowerment Story, Growing
Africa 2(2), 33-38. https://doi.org/10.55693/ga22.TBCI8696
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