What's an authentic handmade souvenir that supports artisans?

If supporting artisans matters to you — and it should, because their crafts are under real pressure from cheap imports — the single most effective thing is to buy where you can see the maker. Argan oil is the flagship example: bought from a women's co-operative (there are many on the Marrakech–Essaouira road and around Agadir), the money goes directly to the women cracking the kernels by hand, and you can watch them do it. A bottle is 80–200 MAD and your dirhams land exactly where you want them. Imitation 'co-ops' exist, so look for ones that are transparent and let you into the workroom.

For rugs, buy fair-trade and buy direct. Weaving co-operatives and reputable dealers who name their weavers and pay them properly are worth seeking out over the hard-sell tourist bazaars where the maker may see a sliver of the price. Expect to pay more than a back-alley 'bargain', and understand that you are paying for fair wages and months of hand-knotting — a small co-op rug is 800 MAD and up. The Ensemble Artisanal, the government-run artisan centres in Marrakech, Fes, and other cities, sell at fixed, fair prices direct from craftspeople and are a good, no-haggle place to start.

Ceramics, leather, and metalwork are most authentic — and most supportive — bought straight from the workshop. In the Fes medina you can buy a bowl from the potter who threw it and leather from the tannery district; in the Marrakech metalworkers' souk you can watch a lantern being hammered and buy it from the hands that made it. That direct line is both the proof of authenticity and the guarantee your money supports the trade rather than a middleman reselling factory goods.

Honest cautions: a lot of 'handmade Berber' merchandise is machine-made or imported, and a lot of 'argan co-op' shopfronts are just shops. The tells are transparency (can you watch it being made?), a maker who can talk about the process, and a willingness to show you the workroom. Pay a fair price rather than grinding to the absolute floor — when the work is genuinely handmade, the haggle should be gentler, because the few extra dirhams are someone's wage, not a tourist tax.