‘No one to help us when the rains don’t come’: gendered climate resilience strategies of female informal dairy and herb traders in Ain Lahcen, Morocco

Rural Morocco is increasingly affected by climate variability, including rising temperatures, irregular rainfall, and frequent droughts, which threaten agricultural livelihoods and food security. These environmental stresses interact with existing social inequalities, such as limited access to land and employment for women and rigid gender norms, making households, especially women, more vulnerable. Drawing on two focus group discussions, this research explores how women navigate structural inequalities while adapting to environmental-related risks. We focus on the informal dairy and herb trade by women in Ain Lahcen (Tétouan, Morocco) to understand how environmental pressures reshape household labour, economic roles, and social relations. Findings show that environmental change worsens existing gender inequalities, as reductions in agricultural income render women’s informal economic activities indispensable for household survival. In response, women increasingly depend on one another, drawing on economic, social, and emotional support to navigate both patriarchal constraints and livelihood pressures. These networks of solidarity, grounded in trust and shared cultural norms, constitute critical adaptive mechanisms in contexts where formal safety nets are absent, enabling women to maintain livelihoods, deal with stress, and sustain community cohesion.