The household level production of edible argan oil from a native tree species in southwestern Morocco has been part of women’s work in the rural indigenous Amazigh community for generations. The more recent growth of cooperative structures in Morocco since the 1990s and the burgeoning global industry for the expensive cosmetic variety of argan oil have led to a proliferation of local argan industries throughout the zone where the tree grows in a UNESCO protected biosphere. For many women producers, engaging with argan production in the household or through a collective, cooperative structure provides an entry into the local market economy with limited opportunities for income generation and increased autonomy for rural women. Based on team research conducted in 2022-23 in conjunction with a field school for anthropology and engineering students from two US universities, this paper discusses the results from interviewing household level women producers and argan cooperative members near Agadir, Essaouira, and Sidi Ifni. Results demonstrate that while commercializing argan oil offers small gains to household economies in the region, the benefits are tempered by several key factors including onerous physical labor inputs, growing corporate interests in argan, lack of training for women in marketing and cooperative management, and lack of access to larger markets. Our research also suggests that narratives of women’s empowerment and fair trade that are widely marketed to attract tourists and consumers fail to represent the difficult conditions in which largely non-literate, underpaid rural women support the global argan industry.