Fresh water is scarce in Morocco’s arid and semi-arid zones, and decreasing in both quality and quantity. Changing climate conditions are thus affecting both agricultural production and human health. The Souss watershed is one such arid region where the water table is diminishing rapidly. Neighbouring mountain communities meanwhile have suffered the effects of severe drought.

On May 12, 2009, the CCAA program and Morocco’s Institut National de la recherche agronomique (INRA) co-hosted a roundtable on the role of participatory action research in supporting climate change adaptation in Morocco. The roundtable followed the seventh meeting of the program’s Advisory Board held in Agadir, and brought together representatives of four CCAA-supported research teams active in Morocco, including Ahmed Legrouri of Al Akhawaun University in Ifrane; Abdellatif Khattabi of the Ecole Nationale Forestière des Ingénieurs Salé; Abdelouahid Chriyaa of INRA Settat; and Abderrhmane Ait lhaj of INRA Agadir.

Researchers presented brief overviews of their projects and spoke to the strengths and challenges of using action research to engage vulnerable populations and policy makers in the search for viable adaptation options. Dr. Mohamed Badraoui, Director General of INRA, underscored the imperative of addressing the threats associated with climate change to safeguard Morocco’s development achievements and protect the vulnerable. DFID’s Chief Science Advisor, Sir Gordon Conway, highlighted the value of participatory methods in involving communities directly in testing adaptation approaches at the local level

The event drew a number of journalists. Links to media coverage can be found below.

Advisors, staff and researchers subsequently visited two communities in the Souss watershed in Chtouka Ait Baha province, located in Morocco’s Anti Atlas mountain range. The group met with partners of the CCAA funded project Integrated eco-systemic approach for optimization of small dams in Morocco.  Led by Abderrahmane Ait Lhaj of the l’Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Agadir, the project is working with key stakeholders to explore the potential social, health, economic and ecosystem impacts of small dams used to increase the availability of water for agricultural and domestic use. It is one of 6 projects co-funded by CCAA and Ecohealth that look at the links between water, health, and climate change.

While the Asgherkiss small dam benefits the downstream community under increasingly dryer conditions, its value to the upstream community is limited. It also poses potential health risks. Researchers are monitoring levels of water-borne disease vectors - such as the snails that transmit bilharzia and anopheles mosquitoes that carry malaria - while also responding to more immediate local interests, such as improving irrigation in water-scarce fields and highlighting poor sewage and sanitation systems.

source: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-142086-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html