Morocco's $1 billion drought-relief plan aids farmers

Kingdom is experiencing 64 per cent less rainfall than usual

A farmer walks among orange trees dried out by drought on Morocco's southern plains of Agadir. AFP

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has contributed $320 million towards a $1 billion plan launched to alleviate the effects of a significantly drier season.

Morocco is currently experiencing 64 per cent less rainfall than usual, but has battled drought over the decades, launching a number of initiatives to use water more efficiently in the vital agriculture sector.

“This climatic and hydric situation negatively impacts the progress of the agricultural campaign, especially the failure of crops and availability of pasture,” state news agency MAP said on Wednesday.

Agriculture accounts for 85 per cent of the country’s water use but more efficient irrigation methods are expanding. The sector employs about 40 per cent of Moroccans and makes up almost 15 per cent of the country's GDP.

King Mohammed said the government would have to “take all necessary emergency measures” to lessen the impact on the agricultural sector, while offering aid to farmers and herders who have been adversely affected.

The drought programme will focus on the protection of animals, the management of water scarcity, providing agricultural insurance and alleviating the financial burden on farmers and agriculture professionals.

It will also fund “innovative investments in the field of irrigation”, MAP said.

Last month, the total area of cereals planted stood at 11 per cent below the country’s average over the past decade, a report by the US Department of Agriculture said.

Delays in rainfall also caused delays in planting of wheat and barley last year.

The government of Morocco has subsidised imports of wheat and grain in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The subsidies will remain in effect until April 30 of this year.

The Water and Energy for Food Initiative says Morocco’s available water resources have decreased by 35 per cent in the last three decades and this year reserves at the country’s main dams fell below the 20 per cent threshold.

Battling drought

Morocco is among the world’s top 25 most water-stressed countries, the World Bank says.

In 2016, the government launched an action plan to mitigate the effects of severe drought that was gripping the region, after a national Green Initiative was launched in 2009.

During the last severe drought, rain levels decreased by more than 40 per cent and in 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture warned of severe crop failure, particularly in the country’s “zone bour” or dry zone, which produces much of its grain.

As part of the climate action plan, the government has encouraged farmers to use drip irrigation, which uses far less water than older methods such as flood irrigation and also reduces pressure on groundwater supplies, a project known as the National Irrigation Water Saving Programme.

In some areas hard-hit by drought such as Agadir, a city in the arid south, water-saving measures have been put in place including limits on irrigating golf courses and even municipal water supply cuts during spells of low demand at night.

Drip irrigation now comprises about 10 per cent of irrigation in the country and increasingly, farmers are using solar power to pump water, with help from government subsidies and non-governmental organisations such as Icarda, The International Centre for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas, and foreign donor funding.