Exploring Morocco’s vulnerability to climate change
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.
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