ABSTRACT
In fact, in Amazigh society women9 have property rights to land and livestock and enjoy decision-making authority related to ownership and production that is protected by special statutes (Tamazallt). Customary laws (Izerfan10 favor gender equality in the mountainous regions.Tribal representatives, in consultation with the foqahas,11 ruled that divorcees and widows are entitled to half of the property of the marriage. When a woman from Maâmar has a conflict with a person of the village around
property or a resource (for example, inheritance), she asks the Jmaâ to solve it. In the presence of her family members, friends and neighbors, she invites the members of the Jmaâ to a meal.The Jmaâ discusses the problem and tries to solve it. If a compromise cannot be found, the women then recur to the tribunal at Aït Ishaq (district seat) or Khénifra (Yamna, president of beekeeping women’s group). The village of Maâmar has not shown increased social or economic develop-
ment despite the investment and activities of the eight-year Khénifra MEDA rural development project.
