Faces Covered, Voices Unheard: The Paradox of Female Farmworkers in Immouzzer Kandar

This study explores the paradox of rural Moroccan women’s central role in agriculture versus their systemic exclusion from recognition, rights, and resources. Focusing on the agricultural community of Imouzzer Kandar, Morocco, the research examines gender disparities in labour conditions, access to agricultural resources, and workplace experiences. The primary objective is to examine how rural women perceive and navigate these challenges within a highly gendered and informal labour market. The study is significant because it sheds light on how the persistent marginalization of rural women not only hinders gender equality but also impedes broader national development and sustainability goals. It addresses the central question: How do rural women in Morocco’s agricultural sector experience and negotiate structural inequalities in their daily work lives? Using a qualitative approach, the research draws on semi-structured interviews with 35 women agricultural workers to analyse their lived experiences and perceptions. The findings reveal entrenched patriarchal norms, wage disparities, informal employment precarity, and sexual harassment, all exacerbated by weak policy enforcement and limited institutional support. These issues directly contradict Morocco’s gender-sensitive development discourse, where rural women’s labour is rhetorically valued but practically invisible. The study argues that empowering women in agriculture, by recognizing their labour, protecting their rights, and enhancing their agency, is essential to reducing rural poverty and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ultimately, it calls for inclusive, regionally informed policy reforms that address informal labour structures, gender-based violence, and decision-making autonomy, while foregrounding the voices and resilience of rural women themselves.