Chegar

Morocco, as the only Argan producer, witnesses a significant fraction of its rural workplace immersed in the cultivation, production, and sale of this local richness. Yet, the processes behind this production are plagued by loss in potential. In general, the numerous co-ops in this field struggle to navigate the business in terms of having efficient production methods and constructing a well-thought organisational structure. Coupled with underfunding, this proved disastrous for some co-ops.

Chegar aims to guide these co-ops into developing sustainable business-models. To this end, Chegar proposes an established system of micro-funding and management consulting. With chegar, women grow their businesses thanks to the provided micro-credits, consultant services, and business workshops. 

Scaled globally, this solution could positively change the lives of local business-owners around the world. Micro-credits have been incredibly successful, and with this initiative revolving around financial sustainability and effective fund-allocation, many lives and economies will be uplifted. 

The problem that I aim to address is the acute poverty prevalent in the rural areas of Morocco. While doing so, several other issues are to be targeted, including but not limited to gender inequality and the slow economic growth common that the kingdom struggles with. With a special focus on women, one can see that they suffer from the worse, unsatisfactory socioeconomic living conditions. With many challenges preventing these women from attaining independence, their potential is often limited and suppressed. 

Besides, as the common activities of the region, many co-ops with identical services and products engage in lethal competitions that end in bankruptcies, deeply affecting the lives of families that depend on them. 

As globalisation widely affected millions of people living under poverty line, it certainly reduced inequalities between countries. Yet while doing so, it created inequalities within some countries. The entrepreneurial spirit is not what’s lacking here, but the right strategic approach is an urging need for a healthy development and growth. 

The women that I’ll be working directly with are usually in their thirties or forties, live in isolated villages in the Atlas Mountains and are the sole provider of their families, with their husbands being away or unemployed most of the time. They rely on the natural products of the region to produce crafty goods. The work that they do usually depends on risky environmental, geographical, and infrastructural casualties. As a result, some can not deliver or produce orders they receive on time and within the standards promised. A large portion of their needs reside in the availability of funds to secure a promising working environment. Besides the physical capital, human capital is also essential for the operational functioning of the businesses. These women are often illiterate or have completed the first cycle of schooling, usually not enough to serve an international clientele. 

Chegar, as an initiative, intends to micro-fund these co-ops by providing interest free loans with repayment plans after 2 successful years of launching. It intends to educate women in business, leadership and entrepreneurship by teaching them the basic knowledge of business operations, accounting and product development along with organising several educating workshops, and building partnerships with local organisations. This would hopefully enable them to take over our work on a more continuous basis once we leave. By focusing on women co-ops and small businesses, often related to agriculture and wool-making, in the most rural areas of Morocco, our work has therefore decided to focus exclusively on women’s businesses, in the hope to empower them, make them independent and contribute to the gender equality.

With the aim of stimulating a financially sustainable solution, Chegar also aims to develop an organic skin care brand that incorporates Pan-African resources in their purest formats. With ingredients selected with great care, tested, highly approved, and have proven great effectiveness, Chegar intends to provide 20% of the profits for an additional continuous funding source to the initiative of micro-funding.