Meet the Moroccan Women Making Argan Oil for the Beauty Industry

Argan oil bottles are displayed for sale inside the showroom of Women's Agricultural Cooperative Taitmatine, in Agadir, Morocco June 8, 2021. Picture taken June 8, 2021. (Reuters)
Argan oil bottles are displayed for sale inside the showroom of Women's Agricultural Cooperative Taitmatine, in Agadir, Morocco June 8, 2021. Picture taken June 8, 2021. (Reuters)
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Meet the Moroccan Women Making Argan Oil for the Beauty Industry

Argan oil bottles are displayed for sale inside the showroom of Women's Agricultural Cooperative Taitmatine, in Agadir, Morocco June 8, 2021. Picture taken June 8, 2021. (Reuters)
Argan oil bottles are displayed for sale inside the showroom of Women's Agricultural Cooperative Taitmatine, in Agadir, Morocco June 8, 2021. Picture taken June 8, 2021. (Reuters)

In the arid mountains of southern Morocco, local women harvest argan oil, a natural product they have long used in cooking but which has become highly prized by the global beauty industry as an anti-aging skin treatment and restorative for hair.

Most argan oil is produced by local cooperatives of Amazigh-speaking Berber women around the cities of Agadir, Essaouira and Taroudant where the argan tree, which bears small green fruit resembling an olive, is common.

For centuries the oil, among the most expensive in the world, has been extracted by drying argan fruit in the sun, peeling and mashing the fruit then crushing and grinding the kernel with stones.

The oil was traditionally used as a flavoring and a savory dip for bread. As an ingredient it is still common in Morocco and now also exported for food.

Its use as a beauty product has created a surge in demand for the oil by international cosmetics companies, however. It also means that local groups are investing in more appealing packaging. The oil now costs around $30-50 a liter locally, but can sell on the international market in smaller high-end bottles for up to $250 a liter.

In the Tiout oasis near Taroudant (600km south of Rabat), the Taitmatine cooperative employs 100 women to produce argan oil, offering them a salary, free childcare, health insurance and literacy courses.

The cooperative, whose name in Amazigh means “sisters”, was set up in 2002.

Although new machines they use to help process the fruit have helped speed up the work, the women still have to remove the hard shell of the kernels by hand by pounding it with a stone, before the inner kernel can be pressed by a machine to extract the oil.

“It takes up to three days of grinding for every woman to get one liter of Argan oil,” said Mina Ait Taleb, head of the Taitmatin cooperative.

“We work here but we also have fun and sing together,” said Zahra Haqqi speaking in a room where dozens of women were grinding outer argan kernels using stones.

Haqi said the job had helped her earn a regular income.



Cold Winds Sweep Beijing, Closing Key Sites, Disrupting Travel

 A child dressed as the emperor reacts after retrieving his crown blown away outside the Forbidden City during high winds in Beijing, China, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP)
A child dressed as the emperor reacts after retrieving his crown blown away outside the Forbidden City during high winds in Beijing, China, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP)
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Cold Winds Sweep Beijing, Closing Key Sites, Disrupting Travel

 A child dressed as the emperor reacts after retrieving his crown blown away outside the Forbidden City during high winds in Beijing, China, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP)
A child dressed as the emperor reacts after retrieving his crown blown away outside the Forbidden City during high winds in Beijing, China, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP)

China's capital hunkered down on Saturday as rare typhoon-like gales swept northern regions, forcing the closure of historic sites and disrupting travel while bringing late snowfalls and hailstone showers in some areas.

Windows shook and trees crashed onto footpaths and cars, rocked by gusts of wind driven by a cold vortex from neighboring Mongolia that sent temperatures plunging by more than 12 degrees Celsius (22 degrees Fahrenheit).

The winds, which started on Friday, are set to continue over the weekend, packing gusts of up to 150 kph (90 mph), the official Xinhua news agency said. They brought late snowfalls in Inner Mongolia and hailstones in southern China.

Beijing issued its second-highest gale alert this weekend, for the first time in a decade, warning 22 million residents to avoid non-essential travel as winds could potentially break April records dating from 1951.

The winds dominated social media chats, with many people expressing concern for food delivery workers braving the conditions.

"In weather like this, we can choose not to order delivery - it's too hard for them," one Weibo user wrote.

By 11.30 a.m. (0330 GMT), 838 flights had been cancelled at Beijing's two major airports, the Flight Master tracking app showed, while the capital's historic sights and parks were shut, with some old trees trimmed in preparation for the cold blast.

The winds forced the postponement of a half-marathon set for Sunday featuring humanoid robots competing with humans in a bid to showcase China's technological advances.

Sandstorms raging over a stretch from Inner Mongolia to the Yangtze River region crippled road travel in eight provinces, Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV said.

Sandstorms were expected to impact Shanghai from Saturday afternoon through to Sunday morning.

Strong winds bringing sand and dust from Mongolia are routine in spring, but climate change has made weather events more extreme.