It was so exciting to learn about the Anou Cooperative today, a platform that helps artisans build and sell their products. I truly enjoyed understanding the art of artisan’s craft and what that really means. It connects to tradition, hard work, and so much more that goes unseen behind the products sold in the souks. I was most surprised in learning that the artisan only earn about 4% of the money earned from their goods, a number so low that it doesn’t even seem real to me. It’s so inspiring that organizations like the Anou Cooperative are doing things to raise these numbers, prioritizing the support provided for numerous illiterate, inexperienced women artisans.
Today’s lesson also made me realize that I don’t really ever think about where my products come from and who makes them. Sometimes if I’m purchasing very specific products like something from India, l intentionally think about who is making it when purchasing those goods. However, I don’t usually think about this when considering the day-to-day products I consume like basic Amazon products or food from the grocery store. I want to consider this factor more in the future so that I can try to help smaller, hard-working artisans and local producers.
The lecture on startup ecosystems was even more intriguing than our discussion on craft, revealing startling information about Morocco’s lack of funding for startups and innovation. I was truly taken aback to learn how few Moroccan citizens have credit cards, but I shouldn’t have been surprised seeing as I could never buy anything around the Medina if I didn’t have cash. Loans are also difficult to continuously earn, as one entrepreneurial failure with the use of a loan means that entrepreneur will never receive another loan. Failure is a part of success so how can any startups work without consistent funding? The presentation ended with an impressive spike in statistics about the startup landscape in Morocco. I was amazed by this information, and I’m really excited for our site visits tomorrow where we will get to learn more about these startups directly from those involved.
Speaking of the site visits, l aim to learn more about the specific types of startups being created here in Morocco. I am also curious to see what kinds of challenges these startups faced – were they similar to the loan and credit discussions we had in class today or were they completely different? Tomorrow is going to be an exhausting day, but I look forward to finally starting site visits and getting hands on with the information we studied before the trip. It’s time for Marrakech, see you there!!
