Morocco: drought devastates farmers’ livelihoods
With more than one-third of Morocco’s total cultivated area lying unused due to arid conditions, farmers see their job opportunities dry up as the kingdom faces drought for its sixth consecutive year, reports Arab News and agencies on July 14th.
In the village of Sidi Slimane, located north of Morocco’s capital, Rabat, Mustapha Loubaoui and other jobseekers lay on the streets waiting for work after travelling town to town, searching for employment. Loubaoui, 40, rode his combine harvester 280 kilometres from the village of Dar Bel Amri, which once prospered due to its agricultural activity.
After his day-long journey, Loubaoui’s efforts are in vain. According to official figures, the farmer fears that he will end up in the same position as the roughly 159,000 agricultural workers in Morocco who have lost their jobs since early last year.
The European Drought Observatory’s latest analysis found that large areas of the Mediterranean have been under “alert drought conditions’, a phenomenon that was more pronounced across the Maghreb in countries also including Algeria and Tunisia.
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The lack of water threatens the viability of Morocco’s critical agricultural sector, which employs a third of its working-age population and accounts for 14% of the nation’s exports.
Prior to the onset of severe water scarcity, the total area of cultivated land was 4 million hectares; now, according to figures given by Agriculture Minister Mohammed Sadiki, it stands at 2.5 million.
As arable land has dwindled, so has job opportunities.
Morocco’s unemployment rate rose to a record 13.7% in the first quarter of 2024, according to the government’s statistical body, the High Planning Commission (HCP). Currently, 1.6 million of the North African kingdom’s 37 million people are out of work as the labour market continues to be pummeled by the drought.
Several large farms, such as one in the city of Meknes, whose yield is mainly exported, have been able to withstand dry conditions. The survival of such operations can be credited to the “Green Morocco Plan” (PMV) launched in 2008, which utilised water rationalisation techniques such as drip irrigation. According to official data, the plan has led to agricultural revenues doubling from 63 billion dirhams to 125 dirhams in 10 years.
“Generation Green 2020-2030” is another programme promising to enhance Morocco’s sustainable agricultural sector amidst the pressure of climate change. Despite the success of the initiatives, breakthroughs in sustainability have been unable to drive down unemployment.
“We have modern and sophisticated agriculture, but it only spans around 15 percent of cultivatable areas,” said Abderrahim Handouf, a researcher and agricultural engineer. He added that most farmers remain “at the mercy of climate change” whilst finding a job in a new sector seems unviable.
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Car manufacturing is an example of a booming industry in Morocco, accounting for a record value of over 141 billion dirhams in exports last year. However, Moroccan industry minister Ryad Mezzour stated in May that the industry, which creates up to 90,000 jobs per year, is unable to absorb the 300,000 job seekers.
Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, in response to criticism received on the state of the economy, told parliament last month that “drought has become reality”. Akhannouch announced an injection of investment to the total of 241 billion dirhams in fields such as renewable energy, telecommunications, tourism and health with the expectation of creating 140,000 new jobs. The Prime Minister’s plans fall short of the millions of jobs he promised would be made by 2026.
Though the government’s actions may be viewed as too little, too late for farmers such as 66-year-old Benaissa Kaaouan, who would have moved from farming, provided that there were opportunities for him to reskill.
The elderly Kaaouan now looks at his fields of courgettes spoiled by the sun in Dar Bel Amri, saying mournfully, “There’s no life without rain,”.
Arab News / AFP and agencies
