In Morocco, a sixth year of drought dangerously compromises the agricultural season

2024-02-11T22:33:18.133Z

Highlights: In Morocco, a sixth year of drought is threatening the country's water supply. Almost 90% of the land in the country is not being used for agriculture. The country needs more than 16 billion m3 of water per year to meet its needs. The current drought is expected to last until the end of the year, according to the World Bank. The World Bank says the current drought poses a serious threat to the health of the nation's population. The UN has called on the government to take action to protect the water supplies.

An economic catastrophe is looming, in a country where agriculture employs a third of the population, and calls into question a productivist agricultural model, based on exports.

In Morocco, a sixth year of drought dangerously compromises the agricultural season

An economic catastrophe is looming, in a country where agriculture employs a third of the population, and calls into question a productivist agricultural model, based on exports.

A Moroccan worker picks saffron flowers in a field in the Taliouine region, in southwest Morocco, on November 7, 2018. AFP/Fadel Senna

By: RFI Follow

This month of February, in the province of Berrechid, southeast of Casablanca, the vast fields are abnormally bare. In this area considered the country's grain basket, almost 90% of the land is not irrigated. Since January, rainfall in the kingdom has fallen by 44% compared to January 2023. The level of dams is abnormally low and raises fears of water shortages, when the temperature has increased by 1.8 degrees per year. compared to a period from the 1980s to 2010. A social and environmental catastrophe.

In Morocco, a third of the population makes a living from agriculture. For agronomists, the entire agricultural model of the country must be completely revised. A model, based for around fifteen years, on the export of crops that are very water-intensive, when the water supply is constantly decreasing. While national needs are estimated at more than 16 billion m3 of water, the Shereef kingdom has only had a third of this resource over the last five years.

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Source: rfi

In Morocco, a sixth year of drought dangerously compromises the agricultural season

In Morocco, a sixth year of drought dangerously compromises the agricultural season

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