Fair trade for the resilience of cooperatives: The case of a female argan cooperative in Morocco in the context of Covid-19[Commerce équitable et résilience des coopératives : le cas d’une coopérative féminine d’argane dans le contexte de Covid-19 au Maroc]

The cooperative model is widely recommended for small producers who wish to integrate into fair trade (ICA, 2020; Nicholls, 2015; Tadros & Malo, 2004). If fair trade certified cooperatives have been able to show significant resistance to the negative effects of the Covid-19 health crisis (Ribeiro-Duthie et al., 2020), how does fair trade certification contribute to the resilience of cooperatives in the context of crises? A case study (Yin, 2018) was carried out with a fair trade certified women's argan oil production cooperative. The cross-analysis of the results shows that the cooperative integrated into the international fair trade network is capable of improving the adaptive capacity of their women members. The results of the research show the reactions of the cooperative to the effects of covid-19 in two levels: at the first level are presented the solidarity and social reactions of the cooperative thanks to the fair trade certification, at the second level are presented the entrepreneurial reactions of the cooperative to maintain the activity of its women members. Research shows that fair trade contributes to improving the resilience of cooperatives through the innovation of solutions to social problems and the guarantee of the best trading conditions allowing the organization to maintain its entrepreneurial activity during the crisis. Keywords: fair trade, social innovation, entrepreneurship, cooperative, resilience.