Starting our morning off learning about the Anou cooperative and getting a behind the scenes look at the supply chain of Moroccan crafts, specifically rugs gave a much deeper perspective into the goods we see in the markets every day. The story of how these rugs are made and sold, with women in rural areas crafting them only to make 4% of the earnings while middlemen take the majority of the profit was astonishing and something I never would have expected.
The measures Anou cooperative is taking to help increase these women’s profits and overall success directly relate to all of our program’s focuses, and I think this was a great demonstration of something that is heavily focused on entrepreneurs, technological advancements, and women all at the same time. Creating a platform for these women to sell their rugs directly and seeing some real results from it, is a great example of how technology can change the lives of entrepreneurs and some women who are now the breadwinners in their own family.
This session also brought to light the importance of product sourcing and sustainability which is something that seems to become less and less important to more people. I know I myself could do much better in understanding how the items I buy are created and impacting the environment, because it’s something I never usually consider. Seeing the detrimental impacts these large-scale factories and “sweat shops” have on people’s and our planet’s well-being is extremely disturbing, and it is definitely an important issue that should be combated as much as possible.
Our final session of the day relating to the ecosystems of business in Morocco was also provoking as our groups get ready for our upcoming site visits. Thinking about the ecosystem our company Casablanca Technopark is a part of, and how that impacts their success as well as the entrepreneurs supported by the Technopark, is a new view I never would have thought to take before.
I’m excited to consider all of the new factors we learned about today throughout our site visits tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see what Marrakesh has in store for us later.
-Austin Gilliland