Making Visible the Daily Lives of Women Farm Workers in the Maghreb: Their Constraints, Their Initiatives, and Ways for Improving Their Living Conditions

The feminization of the agricultural workforce has grown substantially In the Maghreb over the past decades. However, the activity of women farm workers is often not visible, socially recognized and accepted, or taken into account by public policies. The absence of a clear legal framework for seasonal work exposes them to precariousness, various forms of violence and deprivation of basic social rights (social protection, pensions, health insurance, support in the event of accidents, etc.). Rural development policies and programs having a gender focus often prefer to support the development of new income-generating activities and tend to leave aside the issue of the living conditions of women farm workers. Research on rural women in the Maghreb has also often focused on women as members of family farms but till now has paid limited attention to the situation of women farm workers.

A special issue of the Alternatives Rurales journal gathers a series of articles which aim to unveil the daily lives of women farm workers in Morocco and Tunisia. These articles analyze not only the constraints women farm workers face but also the initiatives they take to adapt to these constraints. The presentation takes stock of the main findings of these articles and their main lessons, especially in terms of the identified opportunities for improving the living conditions of women farm workers.