Moroccan Farmers Combat Climate Change With Olive Trees and Innovation

In the Al Haouz province of Morocco, farm­ers have adopted tech­niques to adapt to cli­mate change and the results are pay­ing off. The land improved, yields increased, earn­ings rose and brighter employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties have reduced the tide of rural-to-urban migra­tion.

Water short­ages are one of the most chal­leng­ing effects of cli­mate change in Morocco. According to the World Bank, severe drought caused the nation’s eco­nomic growth to decline 1.5 per­cent in 2015. Yet, olive farm­ers in Al Haouz are grow­ing more and earn­ing more than in the past.

Farmers who used to aver­age about 44 pounds of fruit per tree each year are yield­ing 265 pounds or more from each tree, accord­ing to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). These impres­sive results are largely due to drip irri­ga­tion, a slow-release method that deliv­ers water directly to the plants’ roots.

Since drip irri­ga­tion is more effi­cient, farm­ers can water the fields year-round, mak­ing it fea­si­ble to raise cash crops, like olives, and the sta­ples they live on, includ­ing fava, peas and mel­ons. Drip irri­ga­tion also leaves them more drink­ing water.

Erosion is another effect of cli­mate change that threat­ens the region’s water sup­ply and the liveli­hood of rural Moroccans. In the Atlas Mountains, as the ground dried, the veg­e­ta­tion dis­ap­peared. Without land for graz­ing, live­stock farm­ers could­n’t raise ani­mals. Soil slid down the steep, bare slopes into the reser­voirs.

In a project that spans nearly 50,000 acres, res­i­dents fought ero­sion by ter­rac­ing and plant­ing olive trees, which sta­bi­lizes the soil and retains water. Farmers have been able to return to rais­ing live­stock and now they also have olives to sell for addi­tional income.

Overall, farm­ers are less reliant on rain. New veg­e­ta­tion has cre­ated a new micro-cli­mate, and the earth is softer and less dry, the IFAD reported.

Higher yields can also be attrib­uted to new approaches to prun­ing, col­lec­tion and stor­age, which about 90 per­cent of the region’s farm­ers have adopted. They using elec­tri­cal equip­ment, such as bat­tery-pow­ered prun­ing shears and vibrat­ing tree rakes. And, accord­ing to Reuters, farm­ers who used to store olives for a month or two are hav­ing them pressed within 24 hours, boost­ing qual­ity and the sell­ing prices.

Farmers’ abil­ity to change their approach and access mod­ern equip­ment has been pos­si­ble because of gov­ern­ment sub­si­dies and fund­ing made avail­able through IFAD agri­cul­tural devel­op­ment projects. The Agricultural Value Chain Development Project in the Mountain Zones of Al-Haouz Province, is a $9.1 mil­lion project, which is designed to alle­vi­ate rural poverty by improv­ing the value chain of three crops – apples, lambs and olives.

The five-year pro­gram, which is sched­uled to con­clude this year, has seem­ingly achieved its objec­tives. In addi­tion to boost­ing pro­duc­tion, it has helped the olive indus­try inno­vate with infra­struc­ture includ­ing mod­ern olive presses and a lab­o­ra­tory. Producers mar­ket access has improved and the pro­gram has cre­ated attrac­tive oppor­tu­ni­ties for youth and women.

When cli­mate change dimmed prospects in the agri­cul­tural sec­tor peo­ple began migrat­ing to the city. 30-year-old El Badaoui Abdelatif told Reuters he thought about leav­ing. But now he’s part of an agri­cul­tural sup­port team that advises on tree health and pro­vides har­vest assis­tance and equip­ment to farm­ers. Technicians earn well over $23,000 for four months of work.

“With all the train­ing and equip­ment we have received, the sit­u­a­tion is more sta­ble for young peo­ple here, our qual­ity of life is bet­ter, and I don’t think about going any­more,” he said. This is a sen­ti­ment that’s increas­ingly spread among young peo­ple.

Women were drawn from domes­tic duties into the work­force. They’ve been among those hired as ser­vice providers and they’re tak­ing advan­tage of other oppor­tu­ni­ties, which is offer­ing finan­cial inde­pen­dence many had­n’t pre­vi­ously known. According to Reuters, ven­tures include an all-women co-op and women-owned olive press­ing equip­ment.

When peo­ple can’t grow food due to chang­ing weather pat­terns, they migrate, threat­en­ing food secu­rity of entire coun­tries, said IFAD. But in Al Haouz, the suc­cess of devel­op­ment ini­tia­tives has given rise to a bur­geon­ing olive indus­try, which expanded oppor­tu­ni­ties and sta­bi­lized incomes, so migra­tion has decreased.

• International Fund for Agricultural Development


• Reuters